Safety-enhancing locating wearables on passenger ships: Privacy and security perceptions by the elderly

Abstract

Wearables are intimate solutions for a variety of purposes and could enhance safety on large passenger ships in cases of evacuations. Today’s cruise ships offer capacities of up to 8000 passengers. From a technological point of view, wearables offer support for electronic mustering and more efficient possibilities to search for passengers. However, privacy and security perceptions of wearables have so far remained unclear for safety-critical areas. Moreover, the population on large passenger ships is characterized by a relatively high average age. Therefore, we investigated the results of a survey with 2085 passengers for the relationships between demographic data and privacy and security perceptions. Additionally, we explored potential influences of personal attitudes. Evidence was found that privacy concern and perceived security risk are influenced by age but not by gender. Interestingly, the effect of age on both variables is negative and stronger for security than for privacy perceptions. The individual need for safety contributes to explain both variables significantly. In conclusion, privacy concern and perceived security risk decrease with increasing age and need for safety.