Exploring the surveillance culture in the context of smart health : a cross-cultural comparison between South Korea and the U.S.

Developments of technologies at an unprecedented pace have accelerated the digitalization of seemingly ‘everything’, often epitomized by terms such as the Internet of Things (IoT). The sheer breadth and depth of data collected in such a hyper-connected environment bear substantial privacy and surveillance implications, further requiring a more holistic approach in understanding how people perceive privacy. While previous studies on individual privacy have been lucrative, the key constructs and theoretical frameworks have remained relatively fragmented, warranting a fresh conceptual approach. Furthermore, despite the increasing recognition of the contextuality in understanding privacy and surveillance, there are still needs for more cross-cultural examinations. This research seeks to fill these gaps by applying the concept of surveillance culture in the context of smart health device/applications—a prominent consumer IoT domain—, and embark on comparative analysis between two countries of distinct cultural backgrounds: South Korea and the U.S. Specifically, the research first identify elements of surveillance imaginary (i.e., one’s overall perception of technologies, institutions, and norms of surveillance environment) in the context of smart health device/applications and explore typologies reflecting potential underlying patterns. Secondly, the relationship between the surveillance imaginary and surveillance practices (i.e., privacy protective behavior and self-tracking) and contextual factors potentially mediating the relationship. K-means cluster analyses are conducted using survey datasets from samples of each country. The results reveal four typologies of surveillance imaginary for South Korea and the U.S., respectively. In general, the U.S. typologies are clearly differentiated across elements comprising the imaginary, whereas differences between Korean typologies are narrower. The typologies and the use of ‘surveillance imaginary’ offer comprehensive cross-cultural comparisons of critical factors related to privacy. A structural equation model analysis indicates that different aspects of surveillance imaginary—optimistic and pessimistic factors—differentially impact the two types of surveillance practices (i.e., privacy protection and self-tracking). Furthermore, one’s expectations of privacy in using smart health device/applications and sensitivity in providing various kinds of personal information significantly mediate the surveillance imaginary’s impact on behaviors. The results offer unique contributions to both theory and practice by suggesting a fresh theoretical viewpoint that reframes prominent factors discussed in privacy research.Radio-Television-Fil