The role of trustworthiness in information service usage: The case of Parry information kiosks, Tamil Nadu, India

This paper uses the study of an information kiosk project in southern India to argue that the provision of information using information and communication technologies (ICTs) does not reduce information asymmetries or bring about economic development in and of itself. The quality of information determines when information services are used and, further, what the consequences of such usage are. The paper examines trustworthiness as one aspect of the quality of information. Using a study of information kiosks in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu, India, the paper concludes that perceptions of trustworthiness are based not just on the facts and analyses that are said to constitute information, but more on the context within which information is accessed. Especially in the absence of repeated interactions that can establish trust in new forms of information provision, older perceptions of trustworthiness, shaped by existing practices and power structures, determine what constitute dasiatrustworthypsila sources, media and dispensers of information for different sections of a community.