From perception to implementation: A case study of the relationship between team privacy climate and privacy practices

The advancements in software development processes have heightened the need for digital products to incorporate privacy measures that meet users' expectations concerning their personal data protection. Previous studies have indicated the significant role organizational climate plays in determining software developers’ perceptions and behaviors related to privacy engineering. Taking a quantitative approach, this study proposes and provides initial validation evidence for measures of team privacy climate and related constructs. In particular, the study focuses on the relationship between team privacy climate and developers’ implementation of privacy measures during software development and the mediating role of organizational citizenship behavior. The study took place in a case-study software organization from the defense sector. A sample of 212 developers and 30 managers from 50 software teams working in a defense software development organization participated in the study. Developers reported their privacy climate perceptions and privacy citizenship behavior while managers reported their assessments of the implementation of privacy mechanisms in the products that the teams developed. A positive relationship between team privacy climate and managers' assessment of the implementation of privacy mechanisms was found, consistent with organizational climate theory, providing initial evidence of the predictive validity of the team privacy climate scale. We found a positive relationship between team privacy climate and team privacy citizenship behavior. However, the data did not support the hypothesized mediating effect of team privacy citizenship behavior on the relationship between team privacy climate and the managers' assessment of the implementation of privacy mechanisms. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.