Strategies for reducing online privacy risks: Why consumers read (or don't read) online privacy notices

Abstract

Online privacy notices are intended to promote consumer choice and reduce the risks of disclosing personal information online. However, these effects result only if consumers read and use the information contained in the notices. This study used an online survey of 2,468 U.S. adult Internet users to investigate why online consumers read privacy notices across a variety of situations. We found that reading is related to concern for privacy, positive perceptions about notice comprehension, and higher levels of trust in the notice. This suggests that effective privacy notices serve an important function in addressing risk issues related to e-commerce. We further found that reading privacy notices is only one element in an overall strategy consumers use to manage the risks of disclosing personal information online. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and Direct Marketing Educational Foundation, Inc.