Privacy Protection in Electronic Commerce – a Theoretical Framework

Privacy Protection in Electronic Commerce – A Theoretical Framework
Milena Head and Yufei Yuan
Michael G. DeGroote School of Business
McMaster University
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada [e-mail]; [e-mail]
Head, M., Yuan, Y. (2001). “Privacy Protection in Electronic Commerce: A Theoretical
Framework”, Human Systems Management, 20, pp.149-160.

Abstract
In this paper, a theoretical framework for privacy protection in electronic commerce is provided. This framework allows us to identify the key players and their interactions in the context of privacy violation and protection. It also helps to discover the responsibilities of the key players and areas for further research.
Keywords: Electronic commerce, Privacy protection, Privacy policy, Privacy Violation,
Self-regulation, Anonymity
Milena M. Head is an assistant professor of management science and information systems in the Michael G. DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University. Her research interests are in topics that relate to electronic commerce and human-computer interaction, including World Wide Web navigation, Web-based agents, electronic commerce intermediaries, online privacy, information retrieval and interface design. She holds a Ph.D. (1998) and a Master of Business Administration (1993) from McMaster
University and a BMath (1991) from the University of Waterloo. She has published in
International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, Interacting with Computers, and has presented articles at several conferences.
Yufei Yuan is a professor of information systems in the Michael G. DeGroote School of
Business at McMaster University. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Information
Systems from the University of Michigan in 1985. His research interests are in the area of matching problems, approximate reasoning with fuzzy logic, decision support in health care, Web-based negotiation support system, electronic commerce and privacy. He has published more than 30

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