Don't Be a Victim during a Pandemic! Analysing Security and Privacy Threats in Twitter during COVID-19

There has been a huge spike in the usage of social media platforms during the COVID-19 lockdowns. These lockdown periods have resulted in a set of new cybercrimes, thereby allowing attackers to victimise social media users with a range of threats. This paper performs a large-scale study to investigate the impact of a pandemic and the lockdown periods on the security and privacy of social media users. We analyse 10.6 Million COVID-related tweets from 533 days of data crawling and investigate users' security and privacy behaviour in three different periods (i.e., before, during, and after the lockdown). Our study shows that users unintentionally share more personal identifiable information when writing about the pandemic situation (e.g., sharing nearby coronavirus testing locations) in their tweets. The privacy risk reaches 100% if a user posts three or more sensitive tweets about the pandemic. We investigate the number of suspicious domains shared on social media during different phases of the pandemic. Our analysis reveals an increase in the number of suspicious domains during the lockdown compared to other lockdown phases. We observe that IT, Search Engines, and Businesses are the top three categories that contain suspicious domains. Our analysis reveals that adversaries' strategies to instigate malicious activities change with the country's pandemic situation. © 2013 IEEE.

Does gender really matter? Exploring determinants behind consumers' intention to use contactless fitness services during the COVID-19 pandemic: a focus on health and fitness apps

PurposeThis research created a theoretical framework based on theory of consumption values (TCV) and theory of perceived risk (TPR) to investigate the determinant factors behind consumers' intention to use health and fitness apps during the COVID-19-related lockdown. In addition, based on selectivity hypothesis theory (SHT), this study also explored how gender differences moderate the relationships between the determinants and consumers' behavioral intention.Design/methodology/approachA total of 613 respondents completed a self-reported online questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was conducted to test the role of potential determinants in influencing consumers' behavioral intention. Hierarchical multiple regression was performed to examine the moderating effect of gender.FindingsThe findings of this research revealed that physical appearance, general health, enjoyment, affiliation and condition have positive influences on consumers' behavioral intention, while privacy risk and security risk exert negative impact on consumers' behavioral intention. More importantly, the moderating results indicated that only affiliation, privacy risk and security risk have stronger influences on female, while other predictors showed the same effects on both genders.Practical implicationsFitness providers should embrace health and fitness apps as a new contactless tool to offer services during and after the COVID-19-related lockdown. Fitness providers and app developers need to focus more on the utility and quality of their health and fitness apps. In addition, they should add more gamification elements to health and fitness apps because these elements could increase consumers' hedonic experience especially during the lockdown. Third, the security systems in health and fitness apps should be continuously updated to decline privacy risk during and after the COVID-19-related lockdown. Lastly, when female consumers are targeted during the lockdown, fitness providers should make more efforts to imbue health and fitness apps with more social features and improve the level of security.Originality/valueAlthough the importance of contactless technologies has been highlighted ever since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been very little research on the usage of health and fitness apps during the lockdown based on TCV and TPR. Meanwhile, the moderating role of gender differences in this context remains underexplored. This research is one of the early attempts to fill in these gaps. The findings of this study will enhance the theoretical framework regarding the acceptance and use of health and fitness apps;it also challenges the generalizability of SHT in the context of the COVID-19-related lockdown. Moreover, several important implications for the health and fitness industry during and after the COVID-19 pandemic were suggested.

Privacy risk in contact tracing systems

For over a century, contact tracing has been an integral public health strategy for infectious disease control when there is no pharmaceutical treatment. Contact tracing for the coronavirus disease COVID-19 introduced a variety of automated methods deployed across several countries. The present paper examines privacy risk to infected persons and their physical contacts in contact tracing systems. Automated contact tracing systems implemented during the early months of COVID-19 are compared to conventional manual methods. Solove's taxonomy of privacy is applied to examine privacy risks in both conventional and automated contact tracing systems. As a method of epidemiological surveillance, all contact tracing systems inherently incur privacy risk. However, compared to conventional methods, automated contact tracing systems amplify privacy risk with pre-emptive data collection on all app users, regardless of exposure to an infectious disease;continuous, granular data collection on all users' location and proximity contacts;insecurities in proximity app technologies and interconnectivity;and in many cases, the use of centralised systems. Reducing these risk factors can reduce privacy harms, such as identification, distortion, secondary use, stigma, and social control.

Shaping path of trust: the role of information credibility, social support, information sharing and perceived privacy risk in social commerce

PurposeCurrently, the Covid-19 pandemic is changing how consumers shop, encouraging deeper levels and increased reliance on e-commerce systems and social media such as online communities. The online interaction of consumers is more important and brings many uncertainties, which impact the original commerce environment. This study aim to investigate the ethical consideration of information credibility and perceived privacy risk from a psychology perspective in marketing, this study draws on social support theory from social psychology to develop a research model to investigate the role of information credibility and perceived privacy risk on social commerce websites.Design/methodology/approachThis study investigated social commerce websites and communities. The research data of this study was collected through a questionnaire from consumers on three famous social commerce platforms. Using PLS-SEM to perform data analysis, this study research the importance of information credibility, perceived privacy risk and trust on social commerce websites.FindingsThe findings discuss individuals' reaction to privacy issues and to understand the motives to disclose or reveal personal information within a marketing or consumption context. The research also explores the theoretical implications by integrating theories from information systems and social psychology to investigate ethical issues in social commerce.Originality/valueCovid-19 makes peer-to-peer communication in online communities is developing collaborative consumption, and information produced in these communities can influence the decisions of consumers. Covid-19 has exacerbated such a change in social commerce environment. Therefore, information credibility plays an important role in developing online communities. It is important to look at the psychological antecedents that drive consumers' willingness to share their personal information when using online communities. The author has clarified which aspects of trust in social commerce should be strategized, including information trustworthiness, perceived privacy risks, social support and information sharing. These are the details that companies should pay more attention to when operating social commerce. Only by paying more attention to these details and giving consumers a positive feeling can consumers' trust be maintained or enhanced, ultimately leading to a successful trust economy.

Adoption of Covid-19 contact tracing app by extending UTAUT theory: Perceived disease threat as moderator.

Objectives: Contact tracing applications are technological solutions that can quickly trace and notify users of their potential exposure to the Covid-19 virus and help contain the spread of the disease. However, extant research delineating the various factors predicting the adoption of contact tracing apps is scant. The study's primary objective is to develop and validate a research model based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), health belief model (HBM), perceived privacy risk and perceived security risk to understand the adoption of contact tracing application. Methods: An online survey was carried out among users of the 'Aarogya Setu' contact tracing app in India. The partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) tool was employed to analyze data from 307 respondents. Results: The results showed that performance expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions positively influenced users' intention to adopt the app. In contrast, perceived privacy and security risks were significant barriers to app adoption. Perceived disease threat as a moderator mitigated the adverse impact of perceived privacy risk on users' intention to adopt contact tracing apps. Conclusions: The current study gives insights on both drivers and barriers to the adoption of contract tracing applications. Various theoretical and practical implications of significance are provided for academicians and practitioners to effectively promote app adoption to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.

Factors Influencing Intention to use the COVID-19 Contact Tracing Application

Due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have implemented several urgent steps to minimize the disease’s effect and transmission. Supportive measures to trace contacts and warn people infected with COVID-19 were also implemented such as the COVID-19 contact tracing application. This study investigated the effects of variables influencing the intention to use the COVID-19 tracker. The extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model was used to investigate user behavior using the COVID-19 tracker application. Google Form was used to construct and distribute the online survey to participants. Experiment results from 224 individuals revealed that performance expectations, trust, and privacy all have an impact on app usage intention. However, social impact, effort expectation, and facilitating conditions were not shown to be statistically significant. The conceptual model explained 60.07% of the amount of variation, suggesting that software developers, service providers, and policymakers should consider performance expectations, trust, and privacy as viable factors to encourage citizens to use the app. This study work’s recommendations and limitations are thoroughly discussed. © 2022. Vinh T. Nguyen and Chuyen T. H. Nguyen. This open-access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.

Home quarantined: Privacy at risk in technologically-oriented learning amidst COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 triggers technologically-oriented learning and is critical in ensuring that education continues after schools close physically. The internet has a plethora of learning opportunities but may invite privacy risks to users. Using descriptive-comparative research design, the study determined the contents and artifacts exchanged in online portals, the extent of use of social media sites, teaching-learning platforms, and educational websites. The sample was 341 college students of a family-owned private higher education institution. Finally, the difference in online privacy risk management practices was determined when grouped by selected demographic variables. Using means, t-test, and ANOVA, findings from an online survey showed that personal information is shared the most in online portals. For online learning, students heavily relied on Facebook, Microsoft Teams, and Google. To protect their privacy, respondents from all classes follow online management practices. Generally, the respondents' good affordances and decorum in the online media imply that they have good behavior and value creation. Still, a comprehensive strategy to safeguard data among learners in the utilization of online productivity platforms is a must. © 2022, Institute of Advanced Engineering and Science. All rights reserved.

Shaping path of trust: the role of information credibility, social support, information sharing and perceived privacy risk in social commerce

Purpose: Currently, the Covid-19 pandemic is changing how consumers shop, encouraging deeper levels and increased reliance on e-commerce systems and social media such as online communities. The online interaction of consumers is more important and brings many uncertainties, which impact the original commerce environment. This study aim to investigate the ethical consideration of information credibility and perceived privacy risk from a psychology perspective in marketing, this study draws on social support theory from social psychology to develop a research model to investigate the role of information credibility and perceived privacy risk on social commerce websites. Design/methodology/approach: This study investigated social commerce websites and communities. The research data of this study was collected through a questionnaire from consumers on three famous social commerce platforms. Using PLS-SEM to perform data analysis, this study research the importance of information credibility, perceived privacy risk and trust on social commerce websites. Findings: The findings discuss individuals' reaction to privacy issues and to understand the motives to disclose or reveal personal information within a marketing or consumption context. The research also explores the theoretical implications by integrating theories from information systems and social psychology to investigate ethical issues in social commerce. Originality/value: Covid-19 makes peer-to-peer communication in online communities is developing collaborative consumption, and information produced in these communities can influence the decisions of consumers. Covid-19 has exacerbated such a change in social commerce environment. Therefore, information credibility plays an important role in developing online communities. It is important to look at the psychological antecedents that drive consumers' willingness to share their personal information when using online communities. The author has clarified which aspects of trust in social commerce should be strategized, including information trustworthiness, perceived privacy risks, social support and information sharing. These are the details that companies should pay more attention to when operating social commerce. Only by paying more attention to these details and giving consumers a positive feeling can consumers' trust be maintained or enhanced, ultimately leading to a successful trust economy. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Exploring privacy paradox in contact tracing apps adoption

Purpose: Understanding the privacy concerns of individuals in the adoption of contact tracing apps is critical for the successful control of pandemics like COVID-19. This paper explores the privacy paradox in the adoption of contact tracing apps in Australia. Design/methodology/approach: A comprehensive review of the related literature has been conducted, leading to the development of a conceptual model based on the privacy calculus theory and the antecedent-privacy concern-outcome framework. Such a model is then tested and validated using structural equation modelling on the survey data collected in Australia. Findings: The study shows that perceived benefit, perceived privacy risk and trust have significant influences on the adoption of contact tracing apps. It reveals that personal innovativeness and trust have significant and negative influences on perceived privacy risk. The study further finds out that personal innovativeness is insignificant to perceived benefit. It states that perceived ease of use has an insignificant influence on perceived privacy risk in the adoption of contact tracing apps. Originality/value: This study is the first attempt to use the privacy calculus theory and the antecedent–privacy concern–outcome framework for exploring the privacy paradox in adopting contact tracing apps. This leads to a better understanding of the privacy concerns of individuals in the adoption of contact tracing apps. Such an understanding can help formulate targeted strategies and policies for promoting the adoption of contact tracing apps and inform future epidemic control through effective contact tracing for better emergency management. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Health vs. privacy? The risk-risk tradeoff in using COVID-19 contact-tracing apps.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, contact-tracing apps have emerged as reliable tools for public health communication and the promotion of preventative health. However, to function properly, contact-tracing apps require users to provide sensitive information, which has raised concerns about data disclosure, misuse and social surveillance. Little is known about how different types of risk perception simultaneously hinder and motivate individuals' engagement in mobile health apps, particularly in the context of a pandemic. Based on the privacy calculus theory and the risk-risk tradeoff concept, this study examined the risk-risk tradeoff model to enhance the understanding of COVID-19 contact-tracing app users' decision from the perspective of risk minimization. Findings from PLS-SEM and fsQCA revealed that users engage in health risk-privacy risk tradeoff when evaluating and deciding to use the apps. The focal study therefore contributes to the research on privacy calculus theory and calls for a balanced managerial solution to mitigate this tradeoff dilemma.

A study on factors affecting privacy risk tolerance to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in South Korea.

South Korea has been evaluated as a country that is responding well to COVID-19. The Government of the Republic of Korea discloses where, when, and by which means of transportation people confirmed to have the virus have visited. Although disclosure of movement has contributed to flattening the curve and providing timely medical service, concerns about privacy infringement have also been raised. This article determines what factors influence privacy risk tolerance, looking specifically at threat severity, vulnerability, response efficacy, and response cost. We also provide implications for the preparation of better countermeasures for the government to implement.