Balancing Privacy and Convenience: Navigating Trust and Security in Internet Purchase

 While it is true that privacy concerns often contribute to an individual’s hesitation to embrace technology, internet purchases have become an integrated part of life. While the average user may hear scam stories in passing, the average user is often not consciously aware of the dangers of internet purchases until they are involved in a scam. Unauthorized access, data breaches, and phishing scams undeniably influence user trust towards internet purchases; however, internet purchases have become mainstream to the point that users struggle to exist in our society without internet involvement. Many users may desire privacy; however, the need to remain cost-efficient and relevant often outweighs a user’s concern for privacy. Secure encryption protocols aim to protect user purchases; however, users can benefit from education about phishing scams. Learning to make purchases on trusted platforms while avoiding harmful email links and navigating to pages directly can have a powerful effect on how the user operates across the internet. E-commerce websites have a responsibility to protect the users that support their platforms by only storing the data that is necessary to perform tasks and by keeping up-to-date policies and practices. The average user is incapable of protecting themselves against malicious attacks; therefore, companies should take the extra steps necessary to inform and protect their users whenever possible.

Because of our society's dependence on Internet connectivity and because Internet-enabled cell phones are now common, most users likely take security for granted. Most users who are not familiar with the inner workings of internet-based technologies expect that their use of the internet is secure enough for the tasks they regularly perform. The truth is that security depends on phone app and website providers and is situationally provided. While a user may value their privacy, the internet has simply become an invaluable tool that every user implements in their daily lives, whether it is secure or not and whether the privacy issues upset them or not.

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