Does Context in Privacy Communication Really Matter? — A Survey on Consumer Concerns and Preferences

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Privacy policies as a means of communicating with customers still prove ineffective. Researchers have recently suggested that a specific usage context should be considered to make privacy notices more relevant to users. To explore this approach further, we conducted an explorative online survey of privacy concerns and privacy information preferences with 642 participants for two different contexts (loyalty cards and fitness tracking). Our data shows some support for the suggestion that context may be a significant moderator of concerns and preferences. However, the corresponding effects are rather small and limited to specific concerns and information categories. In line with other research, the data supports the known hierarchy of concerns regarding unauthorized secondary use and improper data access, which seem to exceed concerns about erroneous data processing or excessive data collection in both contexts. Furthermore, participants considered information on personal rights and processing purposes more relevant than information on contact persons.