Online privacy and security of Internet digital certificates: A study of the awareness, perceptions, and understanding of Internet users

As electronic commerce develops, its success critically depends on providing security and privacy for its customers' personal data. Unlike Business to Consumer (B2C) commerce where the technological transactions are managed by the business, B2C e-commerce requires the consumers to engage the technologies. In doing so, the consumers face a variety of security risks. The prevailing solution is Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). When e-commerce PKI transactional processes fail, consumers are required to make decisions about digital certificate technologies, in the middle of their transactions. Consumers must often agree to trust digital certificates in order to complete an Internet purchase, when the majority of them do not know what a digital certificate is or who it represents. This study addressed consumers' familiarity with the Internet digital certificate authentication process. The research specifically addressed the following questions: Are consumers aware of the presence and purpose of Internet digital certificates in the online purchasing process? Does Internet experience impact consumers' privacy concerns about Web browser invalidated Internet digital certificates? The research was completed using a descriptive quantitative cross-sectional methodology, with an online survey instrument. The analyses were completed with Pearson's chi-square exact test and descriptive cross-tabulations. The analyses provided descriptive frequencies for the research variables---education, income, gender, age---and for each of the study's research constructs---Awareness, Understanding, Perception, Privacy Concern, and Internet experience. The findings suggested that Internet experience is significant in its relationship of awareness, understanding, and perception of the Internet digital certificate authentication process. This study contributes to the online consumer security behavior line of research introducing consumer behavior toward Internet digital certificate technology as an e-commerce security problem.