earticle

영어

What is individuals’ privacy notion, and does it change with the social roles taken up by them? We explored these questions using a qualitative interpretive research approach. We found that individuals have mixed notion of privacy. Individuals view privacy either as a commodity or as a control. Further, we found that an individual’s privacy notion is a function of their social role within the society and their privacy preferences. Our research points to the importance of expanding the notion of privacy to encompass a broader understanding of privacy preferences. We theorize our findings using social penetration theory and presents a privacy model which provides the logical framework for interpreting people’s views on privacy.