Data Privacy Ethics in Developing Countries: A Study of E-Commerce Consumers with a Stakeholder Theory Lens

The access, adoption and usage of the internet in developing countries have created new societal challenges and raised questions regarding data privacy ethics. Developing countries have very different regulatory and business environments compared to developed countries. This study looks at data privacy ethics in the context of developing countries using stakeholder theory, a foundational framework in business ethics. The study uses the Vietnamese e-commerce industry as an illustrative example, to highlight data privacy ethics in a developing country context. This research looks to ascertain the extent to which consumers feel uncomfortable, sharing their information online with private companies. The empirical analysis is carried out using secondary data from a survey of Vietnamese e-commerce consumers with 467 respondents. A composite score for discomfort is created using this data, and a histogram and kernel density estimate graphs are plotted. The results show a widespread and high degree of discomfort felt by consumers which is not segmented or limited to a particular demographic group. From a stakeholder theory perspective, this shows a consistent and collective stakeholder claim to privacy and highlights a stakeholder misalignment which can have ethical and commercial impacts on businesses. While existing research often explains the behavior of consumers through individual choice models such as the privacy paradox or the privacy-calculus model, little attention has been given to systemic ethical dimensions and responsibilities of companies operating in developing countries. While stakeholder theory has been criticized by some for its conceptual breadth and limited applicability, this study highlights its enduring relevance.