Privacy and self-disclosure online

In this paper we present early results from a study which provides a detailed examination of the interaction between people's willingness to disclose personal information online and their privacy concerns and behaviors. An online survey was administered to participants in two parts using an Internet based surveying system. Part 1 of the survey measured participants' privacy concerns and behaviors. Part 2 measured participants' willingness to provide information using behavioral and dispositional measures of self-disclosure. Structural equation modeling identified two different types of privacy processes contributing to disclosure: a state process (trust and perceived privacy) and a trait process (privacy attitudes and behaviors), which were found to act independently on self disclosure. The results provide a valuable insight into people's privacy concerns and the disclosure of personal information to web sites