Is contact tracing for pandemic relief or privacy menace? : a lens of dual-calculus decision

Abstract

South Korea endured early outbreaks and flattened the coronavirus curve without paralyzing economic systems. The critical factor that leads to the policy’s success is contact tracing using personal information. However, at the same time, the extensive use of personal information has raised social problems related to privacy loss. Even in devastating pandemics, balancing personal privacy and public safety remains a crucial issue. Thus, this study attempted to gain a deeper understanding of privacy disclosure for restaurant customers. We applied privacy calculus theory and risk-risk trade-off concepts to explain the relationship between two conflicting risks. i.e., privacy risk and health risk. We found that “risk substitutions” provide implications for how customers’ privacy perceptions change with the level of health risk and the importance of perceived benefit. Finally, we verified that institutional privacy protection directly influences disclosure intention. This study has implications for theory and practice.