Privacy, Self-Sovereign Identity Technology and the Willingness to Provide Personal Information
type: CreativeWork
description: The internet has caused an unprecedented increase in the amount of personal information that is available online. This personal information has been harnessed directly by companies, to provide targeted marketing to 3rd parties. It can also be used for a company's own internal marketing communication practices. Further highlighting the importance of personal information, some companies have emerged whose business models depend on the accurate collection, and monetisation of this personal information (Streitfeld, 2018). This has led to interest and concern over the misuse of personal information, and the extent companies should benefit from the acquisition of personal information of consumers and 3rd parties. Technological innovation, specifically Blockchain Technology has created the possibility to eliminate these actual or perceived abuses of consumer data, and allow consumers to exercise greater control over their personal data. Blockchain Technology can be simply understood as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet where hundreds of participants continuously verify each entry in the spreadsheet so that no incorrect or fraudulent inputs are made. Specifically, SelfSovereign Identity Technology, currently in its early stages, may allow consumers to have full control of their consumer data via the Blockchain. This includes, access, distribution and may even allow consumers to monetise their own personal information. If consumers fully embrace Self-Sovereign Identity Technology, businesses will have to rethink and overhaul their data collection, marketing practices and business models. On the other hand, consumers will have to decide what they will do, with the data relating to their digital identity and how they might exchange it for their benefit. Despite its potential to disrupt the collection of personal information by companies, a scholarly analysis of the use Self-Sovereign Identity Technology and its relationship with a consumer's willingness to share personal informati…
abstract: The internet has caused an unprecedented increase in the amount of personal information that is available online. This personal information has been harnessed directly by companies, to provide targeted marketing to 3rd parties. It can also be used for a company's own internal marketing communication practices. Further highlighting the importance of personal information, some companies have emerged whose business models depend on the accurate collection, and monetisation of this personal information (Streitfeld, 2018). This has led to interest and concern over the misuse of personal information, and the extent companies should benefit from the acquisition of personal information of consumers and 3rd parties. Technological innovation, specifically Blockchain Technology has created the possibility to eliminate these actual or perceived abuses of consumer data, and allow consumers to exercise greater control over their personal data. Blockchain Technology can be simply understood as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet where hundreds of participants continuously verify each entry in the spreadsheet so that no incorrect or fraudulent inputs are made. Specifically, SelfSovereign Identity Technology, currently in its early stages, may allow consumers to have full control of their consumer data via the Blockchain. This includes, access, distribution and may even allow consumers to monetise their own personal information. If consumers fully embrace Self-Sovereign Identity Technology, businesses will have to rethink and overhaul their data collection, marketing practices and business models. On the other hand, consumers will have to decide what they will do, with the data relating to their digital identity and how they might exchange it for their benefit. Despite its potential to disrupt the collection of personal information by companies, a scholarly analysis of the use Self-Sovereign Identity Technology and its relationship with a consumer's willingness to share personal informati…
author: Hendricks, Matthew
keywords: Marketing
date published: 2021
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:23:19Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: School of Management Studies

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33781