Emergency Notification on Mobile Devices – A Trade -off between Protection Motivation and Privacy Concern

Abstract

Worldwide, natural disasters are increasing. In 2016 alone there was over $175 billion in damages and 8900 lives lost. To mitigate the impact of these events on people, countries are turning to location-based mobile emergency alert systems (MEAS) for their practical benefits and ability to deliver personalised emergency notifications to individuals. Most systems depend on persons choosing to use the service and share personal details. However concerns about data privacy have been raised. Focusing people’s desire to protect themselves from harm, this paper draws on Protection Motivation Theory and work on privacy concern to evaluate willingness to use MEAS, which require the disclosure of personal information to service providers. Results using data from 103 respondents are reported. The findings enhance understanding of MEAS use, and provide insights to service providers and government agencies for implementing MEAS.