Browsing by Subject "privacy"

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    Open Access
    Factors influencing the use of privacy settings in location-based social networks
    (2017) Oladimeji, Henry; Ophoff, Jacques
    The growth of location-based social networks (LBSN) such as Facebook and Twitter has been rapid in recent years. In LBSNs, users provide location information on public profiles that potentially can be used in harmful ways. LBSNs have privacy settings that allow users to control the privacy level of their profiles, thus limiting access to location information by other users; but for various reasons users seldom make use of them. Using the protection motivation theory (PMT) as a theoretical lens, this dissertation examines whether users can be encouraged to use LBSN privacy settings through fear appeals. Fear appeals have been used in various studies to arouse fear in users, in order to motivate them to comply to an adaptive behaviour through the threat of impending danger. However, within the context of social networking, it is not yet clear how fear-inducing arguments will ultimately influence the use of privacy settings by users. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of fear appeals on user compliance, with recommendations to enact the use of privacy settings toward the alleviation of privacy threats. Using a survey methodology, 248 social-network users completed an instrument measuring the variables conceptualized by PMT. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the validity and reliability, and to analyze the data. Analysis of the responses show that PMT provides an explanation for the intention to use privacy settings by social-network users. Risk susceptibility, response efficacy, self-efficacy and response cost were found to have a positive impact on the intention to use privacy settings, while sharing benefits and maladaptive behaviours were found to have a negative impact on the intention to use privacy settings. However, risk severity and fear were not found to be significant predictors of the intention to use privacy settings. This study contributes to existing research on PMT in a sense that fear appeal should focus more on coping appraisal, rather than on threat appraisal which is consistent with the results of most studies on protection motivation.
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    Open Access
    The consumer's rights to privacy: a comparative analysis
    (2010) Joseph, Natalie Delphine; Naude, Tjakie
    As South Africa has a very rich political history, when new pieces of legislation are drafted (then subsequently enacted) there is always an attempt to correct the mistakes of the past. This is the reason that the South African Constitution (Constitution)1 provides many fundamental rights.2 The apartheid era was the depression of South Africa but through this South Africa has grown. This is why it is inherent to the South African legislature to view all circumstances - whether they are legal, political or economical -by enacting laws which will be to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged.3 Of course, apartheid was horrible for those that went through it, but the effect on the present and future la,·:s have been a positive one. Without all the suffering that was endured throughout the .1partheid era, South Africa would never be a country with such a wide-spread and seeking Constitution.