Privacy-friendly Online Services

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The rise of privacy-friendly online services, which prioritize user information protection, marks a significant shift in the internet landscape. These services leverage privacy-enhancing technologies and maintain user-friendly terms, setting them apart from conventional platforms that often fail to safeguard privacy adequately. Many widely used services, such as Google, Facebook, and WhatsApp, are known for their significant privacy shortcomings, leading to growing consumer concern over privacy threats. In this context, privacy-friendly alternatives like DuckDuckGo, premium social networking sites, and Threema offer users enhanced privacy protection. However, questions remain: Are consumers willing to adopt these privacy-centric services? Would they pay for better privacy protection? Would they switch from their current providers for privacy reasons? This book addresses these inquiries through four quantitative empirical studies that explore consumer behavior regarding privacy-friendly online services. The findings provide practical management insights for online service providers, highlighting the importance of privacy in consumer decision-making.