Internet Users' Privacy Concerns and Beliefs About Government Surveillance

TLDR

The study investigates how privacy concerns and beliefs about government surveillance differ between Italy and the United States and how these factors influence users’ decisions to conduct e‑commerce transactions, drawing on multiple cultural theories. Using LISREL structural equation modeling and multigroup analysis, the authors tested a model linking privacy concerns, perceived need for government surveillance, and intrusion concerns to e‑commerce behavior across the two countries. Results indicate that Italians report lower privacy concerns and perceived need for surveillance but higher intrusion concerns than U.S.

Abstract

The study examines differences in individual’s privacy concerns and beliefs about government surveillance in Italy and the United States. By incorporating aspects of multiple cultural theories, we argue that for both countries, the user’s decision to conduct e-commerce transactions on the Internet is influenced by privacy concerns, perceived need for government surveillance that would secure the Internet environment from fraud, crime and terrorism, and balancing concerns about government intrusion. An empirical model was tested using LISREL structural equation modeling and multigroup analysis. The results support the hypotheses with regard to direction and relative magnitude of the relationships. Italians exhibit lower Internet privacy concerns than individuals in the U.S., lower perceived need for government surveillance, and higher concerns about government intrusion. The relationships among the model constructs are also different across the two countries. Implications of the findings and directions for future work are discussed.