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Agony of choice: Trade-off between privacy and convenience with web cookies
University West, School of Business, Economics and IT, Divison of Informatics.
2021 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (One Year)), 10 credits / 15 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]

Introduction: Most of the people living in the EU use the internet regularly. Lots of personal related data is collected by companies utilizing web cookies. The General Data Protection Regulation was set to give users more control over data collection related to their personal data. Little is known about web cookie awareness and e-privacy in relation to information overload and the design of web cookie notifications. No previous study has looked at the differences between Sweden and Germany regarding web cookie and e-privacy awareness. Aims: The overall aim of this study is to investigate how aware web users are about webcookies and e-privacy after the introduction of GDPR and if there is any difference in web cookie awareness between people residing in Germany and Sweden. Further, to assess how web users are influenced by the information in web cookie notification and the design. Methods: A quantitative research approach was performed with a self-completion questionnaire. Data was collected during 29th of April - 9th of May and 150 participants have participated in this study. 96% of the participants were either living in Germany or Sweden. Mann-Whitney and Chi-Square tests were performed to investigate differences within different countries, age groups and occupations regarding awareness about web cookies and privacy. One sample Wilcoxon signed ranked tests and binomial tests were performed to test hypotheses related to information overload and the design of web cookies. Results: Younger participants read web cookie notifications in a significant lower extend than participants older than 55 years (p = 0,03). Significant differences were found in relation to the usage of web cookie blockers, with Germany using web cookie blocker to a greater extend. The general opinion of the participants was that web cookie notifications contain too much information (p = 0,023). Participants also agreed on that accepting web cookies is faster than declining them. Further, participants expressed that the web cookies layout is influencing their choice when either accepting or declining the web cookies consent. Conclusions: Despite GDPR, the findings of this study indicated a need for shortened, simplified, and uniform information in web cookies notification and privacy policies. It should be considered to make a uniform design for web cookies to make interaction with web cookies dialogue more user friendly and time saving. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2021. , p. 39
Keywords [en]
e-privacy, GDPR, nudging, information overload, awareness
National Category
Information Systems, Social aspects
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hv:diva-16735Local ID: EXI802OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hv-16735DiVA, id: diva2:1581212
Subject / course
Informatics
Educational program
Informatik
Supervisors
Examiners
Available from: 2021-07-21 Created: 2021-07-20 Last updated: 2021-07-21Bibliographically approved

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CiteExportLink to record
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