Internet Privacy Concern Scale

What it measures

Measures the degree to which a person is concerned about threats to personal privacy arising from internet usage, with particular emphasis on the potential misuse of information submitted online. The scale captures general anxiety about online data collection and concerns about the unpredictable or unauthorised uses of personal information.

Scale items

• In general, I am concerned about my privacy when using the Internet.
• I am concerned that information I submit on the Internet could be misused.
• I am concerned that a person can find private information about me on the Internet.
• I am concerned about submitting information on the Internet, because they could be used in a way that I cannot foresee.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Used by Schumann, Wangenheim & Groene (2014) and referred to by them as a general concern for privacy scale. Items were developed in German using back-translation from the English version shown here. Three of the four items were borrowed from Dinev & Hart (2006). The scale was used in Study 1. Alpha = .91. AVE = .73, supporting convergent validity. Discriminant validity was also supported. Distinct from the Consumer Privacy Concern Scale (ID 245, Malhotra et al. 2004), which is based on a broader information privacy framework and uses a larger item set.

Citation

Schumann, J.H., von Wangenheim, F., & Groene, N. (2014). Targeted online advertising: Using reciprocity appeals to increase acceptance among users of free web services. Journal of Marketing, 78(1), 59-75.

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