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Understanding Website Privacy Policies—A Longitudinal Analysis Using Natural Language Processing

  • Privacy policies are the main method for informing Internet users of how their data are collected and shared. This study aims to analyze the deficiencies of privacy policies in terms of readability, vague statements, and the use of pacifying phrases concerning privacy. This represents the undertaking of a step forward in the literature on this topic through a comprehensive analysis encompassing both time and website coverage. It characterizes trends across website categories, top-level domains, and popularity ranks. Furthermore, studying the development in the context of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) offers insights into the impact of regulations on policy comprehensibility. The findings reveal a concerning trend: privacy policies have grown longer and more ambiguous, making it challenging for users to comprehend them. Notably, there is an increased proportion of vague statements, while clear statements have seen a decrease. Despite this, the study highlights a steady rise in the inclusion of reassuring statements aimed at alleviating readers’ privacy concerns.

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Author:Veronika Belcheva, Tatiana ErmakovaORCiD, Benjamin FabianORCiD
URN:urn:nbn:de:kobv:526-opus4-18268
DOI (Version of Record):https://doi.org/10.3390/info14110622
ISSN:2078-2489
Parent Title (English):Information
Publisher:MDPI
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Year of Publication:2023
Publishing Institution:Technische Hochschule Wildau
Release Date:2023/11/22
Tag:NLP; longitudinal analysis; privacy policy; readability; text analysis; vagueness
Volume:14
Issue:11
Article Number:622
Source:Belcheva, V.; Ermakova, T.; Fabian, B. Understanding Website Privacy Policies—A Longitudinal Analysis Using Natural Language Processing. Information 2023, 14, 622. https://doi.org/10.3390/info14110622
Faculties an central facilities:Fachbereich Wirtschaft, Informatik, Recht
Dewey Decimal Classification:0 Informatik, Informationswissenschaft, allgemeine Werke / 00 Informatik, Wissen, Systeme / 004 Datenverarbeitung; Informatik
Licence (German):Creative Commons - CC BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International
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