A rapidly changing environment requires intensive collaboration between teams in an organization.ÌýHigh mobility andÌýcross-functional teamsÌýareÌýbest practicesÌýin creatingÌýagileÌýorganizations.ÌýAgility isÌýneeded to respond to very dynamic environmental changes.
The use ofÌýcloud-based storageÌý(CBS) makes it easy for team members to contribute wherever they are without being bound by place and time.ÌýAnd the use of this service, such as Dropbox,ÌýMicrosoft OneDrive,ÌýApple iCloud Drive, and/orÌýGoogle Drive;Ìýis increasingly popular.ÌýMost of them use two or moreÌýCBSÌýservices, as a back-upÌýeffortÌýif the main service used isÌýdown.ÌýUntil mid-2018, there are 1,926 billionÌýCBSÌýusersÌýworldwide, bothÌýfree-basedÌýandÌýfee-based.
Many reports and studies reveal various problems related to the use ofÌýCBS, especially related toÌýprivacyÌýandÌýsecurityÌýof the data stored in it.ÌýMost of the research focused on the technical issues of CBS services, but studies that discuss user responses toÌýprivacyÌýandÌýsecurity issuesÌýare rarely done.ÌýUsing the Communication Privacy Management Theory, we conducted research with a comprehensive model to discuss it.
Communication Privacy Management Theory (CPMT)
CPMT was developed for the first time to explain and predict individuals in making decisions to disclose their personal information, especially in dealing with other people (interpersonal relationships).ÌýOf course, in the digital era facilitated by the internet, one person can connect not only with one other person but with internet users throughout the world.ÌýIt is what makes the issue ofÌýprivacyÌýandÌýsecurity crucial.ÌýCPMT has three main components, privacy ownership,Ìýprivacy control, andÌýprivacy turbulence.
We argue that users will be willing to place personal information, both information that is not very sensitive and very sensitive when they trust CBS services. Besides trust, of course, the benefits (personal interests and level of use) offered by CBS have made positive impacts on their willingness to reveal the information. The costs incurred ( related to privacy, the risk of privacy, and the level of information security) will have the opposite effect.
In this research, we also measure the level of control in the privacy and the costs incurred depending on the ability of CBS services to guaranteeÌýinstitutional privacy, institutional privacy assurances.ÌýThis guarantee covers boundary coordination andÌýboundary turbulence.ÌýWhen CBS services can provide an effective perception of the privacy policy, users will certainly haveÌýhigh privacy control.ÌýIt will increase users’ trust in CBS services, so they will be willing to put their personal information into the service.ÌýWe also argue that when regulations related to CBS services issued by the industry and government, users will be willing to keep their personal information becauseÌýof the high level ofÌýprivacyÌýand trust they have.
Method and Results
This research is a collaboration between the National Cheng Kung University (Taiwan) and 51¶¯Âþ. We also compare CBS service users in Taiwan and Indonesia due to differences inÌýuncertainty avoidanceÌýscoresÌýon Hofstede’s dimensions.ÌýFurthermore, differences in the economic status of the two countries, the maturity of internet users will affectÌýprivacy concern, and government regulations related to personal privacy on the internet make this research also interesting.
We invite CBS service users andÌýuse a double-back translation for the questionnaires, both on Mandarin (for respondents in Taiwan) and Indonesian (for Indonesian respondents).ÌýDuring the first three months in 2017, there were 786 respondents (403 respondents from Taiwan and 383 from Indonesia) that was used in the analysis.Ìý 51.3% of respondents were private employees, while students were only 28.6% of the total respondents.ÌýMore than half (50.5%) of the respondents have undergraduate education, while respondents with masters were 32.2%.Ìý CBS services regular users are more than 50%, while 44.4% of users sometimes or rarely use them.ÌýMost users useÌýGoogle Drive (54.3%), followed byÌýDropboxÌý(22.1%), andÌýMicrosoft OneDriveÌý(8.8%).
The results of the analysis are in line with the previous arguments.ÌýInterestingly, the influence of user perceptions on the effectiveness of government regulations onÌýprivacy control wasÌývery strong for respondents from Taiwan compared to Indonesia.ÌýThe same thing also happened to the influence of users’ trust in CBS services, making respondents from Taiwan more willing to place personal information, either less and very sensitive, compared to Indonesia.
For CBS service companies, of course, providing comprehensive procedures and guarantees in securingÌýprivacyÌýandÌýsecurityÌýof users™ information is essential.ÌýBuilding trust and minimizing the perception of security risks on CBS services is a necessity.ÌýFor companies that sell CBS services in Taiwan, it is important to understand that Taiwanese people have a high level ofÌýuncertainty avoidance.ÌýThe user’s ability toÌýfullyÌýcontrolÌýtheirÌýprivacyÌýis the main step to increase trust in the offered services.
For the government, making regulations that protect theÌýprivacyÌýof CBS service users and implement them (effectiveÌýlaw enforcement) will make this industry grow even further.
Author: Prof. Badri Munir Sukoco, Ph.D
Details of this research available at:
Andree E. Widjaja, Jengchung Victor Chen, Badri Munir Sukoco, and Quan-An Ha (2019). Understanding Users™ Willingness to Put Their Personal Information on the Personal Cloud-Based Storage Applications: An Empirical Study. Computers in Human Behavior, 91: 167-185;
