Jusletter IT

At the IRIS2017 Griesbacher/Staudegger/Stelzer introduced the Horizon2020 project TRUESSEC.eu («SSH In ICT Using the Example of TRUESSEC.eu»). This year, preliminary project findings will be elaborated from a multidisciplinary perspective. One of the central claims of the project consortium concerns the role of trust in digital products and services: Trust in ICT products and services can be reinforced through increased transparency. This article reviews conceptions of trust and e-trust with the aim of outlining trust as the social a priori of ICT use. It starts by briefly introducing classical accounts of trust found in sociology. These accounts are then related and compared to the more recent theoretical innovation of e-trust (i.e. trust in digital environments). The article concludes by sketching a way in which the recognition of the social nature of the phenomenon may improve the understanding of trust in digital contexts.