A systematic evaluation of the communicability of online privacy mechanisms with respect to communication privacy management

Online privacy mechanisms have not been effective in ensuring end-users' privacy. One of the main reasons is the un-usability of these mechanisms. Although past socio-psychological studies have highlighted the need for privacy in interpersonal interactions and social relationships, approaches to designing online privacy have often not considered privacy as a communication process. In this study the principles of communication privacy management (CPM) are used within semiotic inspection to examine online privacy mechanisms. We found that privacy as a communication process breaches many of the principles of CPM. We conclude that this might explain why end-users do not interact with online privacy mechanisms effectively. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.