lunchföreläsning av Chantal Mutimukwe

The research was framed to address information privacy problems in the online services context in African Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

The use of IT technology for service delivery is growing in Africa, and this offers a possibility to break the vicious circle of poverty. However, weak economic realities have made African communities highly vulnerable to potential privacy and security violations. Although this problem is crucial, little research has addressed the subject of privacy protection in African LDCs. For this, my Ph.D. research aimed to increase the understanding of issues related to information privacy protection in African LDCs.

Empirical studies were conducted, and the findings offered an understanding of 1) To what extent e-services users in African LDCs concern about information privacy, 2) How these concerns affect their behavior-intentions relating to sharing personal information, and trusting beliefs, 3) How these concerns can be overcome by organizational privacy protection practices and 4) To what extent the existing organizational privacy protection in African LDCs would be efficacy in reducing users concerns. Based on empirical studies, the thesis also proposed 55 guidelines that organizations in African LDCs could follow to achieve effective information privacy protection practices in online services context.

The research enhanced a theoretical understanding of information privacy protection practices and individual privacy concerns, and other related factors. Further, the recommended guidelines would help organizations in planning and decision-making regarding information privacy protection practices.