B2C data privacy policies: current trends

Reviews 149 business‐to‐consumer (B2C) Web sites in nine countries and across five industries. One wanted to identify patterns that would allow one to draw conclusions about why companies chose to display data privacy policies on their Web sites. Presents an overview of the impact of business forces, telecommunications infrastructure, and culture on B2C Web site development. Having examined these sites, it is believed that the level of sophistication and development of a company’s Web site plays a role in whether a data privacy policy is displayed on the site. It was concluded that data privacy policies are more commonly found on B2C Web sites in countries where: consumers have greater access to and experience of using the Web, and there is an established market economy with clear business laws. These sites have a greater tendency to disclose detailed and conspicuously positioned policies to consumers about how their personal data will be used.