The Effect of Providing Visualizations in Privacy Policies on Trust in Data Privacy and Security

Trust in data privacy and security of internet service providers is getting increasing attention, especially in the context of cloud service. Insufficient communication of implemented data privacy and data security measures may lead to a lack of trust. Visualizations are known to have various beneficial effects when used to communicate information. This paper investigates whether providing visualizations as means for communicating data privacy and security measures has a positive effect on trust. A laboratory experiment was conducted to measure the effect of visualizations on trust in the provider, trust in the measures of the provider, and on information security and privacy concerns. The results indicate that there is a small positive effect regarding trust in the provider and in his measures and no significant effect regarding information security and privacy concerns. The findings provide first insights into the effect of visualizations on trust and lead to several further research questions.