DFG-Project: An Organizational Perspective on the Collection and Use of Personal Information

Individuals’ privacy in the context of online services presents a topic of significant interest in our increasingly digital society. However, there is a lack of research on the challenges faced by companies regarding their handling of individuals’ privacy. This is surprising, considering the impact that companies’ activities have on individuals’ privacy and the future role of privacy in our society. Our project presents a first step towards addressing this research gap and can serve as a foundation for future work in this neglected area. 

In particular, we investigate the organizational tension between a) privacy protection and b) value creation based on individuals’ personal data, which providers of online services face: Companies that try to increase privacy protection might limit their possibilities to create value through personal data as a result. On the other hand, creating value from the personal data of consumers might only be accomplished by interfering with these individuals’ privacy. This tension presents a significant challenge for companies. In our project, we aim for developing a better understanding of how companies can deal with this tension.

Principal Investigator(s) at the University	Prof. Dr. Jin Gerlach (Lehrstuhl für Wirtschaftsinformatik mit Schwerpunkt Daten- und Informationsmanagement)
Project period	01.05.2020 - 31.12.2022
Source of funding	DFG - Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft > DFG - Sachbeihilfe
Projektnummer	GE 3233/1-1 AOBJ 659573
Themenfelder	Wirtschaftswissenschaften allgemein, Betriebswirtschaftslehre, Wirtschaftsinformatik (f. Wirtschaftswiss.)