The Next Frontiers of Online Privacy1

Abstract

This chapter has two purposes. First, we describe how information system (IS) scholars approach privacy research and summarize major findings. IS scholars are concerned with information privacy and have discovered that individuals have serious information privacy concerns. These concerns, however, do not prevent individuals from disclosing personal identifiable information (PII) to centralized platform providers, a phenomenon called the privacy paradox . We highlight four common explanations for the privacy paradox: privacy calculus, privacy fatigue, trust, and lack of choice. Most IS privacy research, to date, has investigated Web2 applications – which is the foundation for today’s global online economy. With Web2, users rely on centralized platforms for online searching, shopping, banking, data storage, social media, and other services. Second, we introduce scholars to the next frontiers of human privacy with three emerging solutions: decentralization (Web3), multi-party computation (MPC), and zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs). Web3 applications enhance information privacy compared to Web2 because individuals can access services without disclosing PII to a central authority. The privacy objective is achieved technically through a combination of digital wallets, cryptography, and distributed ledgers (a.k.a. blockchain). Multi-party computation is an innovative approach to calculating information among trusted parties without revealing anyone’s confidential data. It’s a way to answer common questions among trusted parties, such as “Am I paying the same for materials?” and “Does anyone else see suspicious cybersecurity activity on their networks?” Finally, we explain ZKP as a method by which one party can prove to another that they possess a particular identity, item, or piece of knowledge without revealing the specifics of what that identity, item, or knowledge is. Unlike MPC, some types of ZKPs do not require a priori trust; instead, trading partners trust mathematical proofs. Together, Web3, MPC, and ZKPs potentially offer organizations and individuals enhanced online privacy but collectively require more research and field experience.