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Using fuzzy Delphi and fuzzy numbers, the methodology develops the Fuzzy Legal and Ethical Compliance Index (FLECI) that addresses the inherited vagueness of the evaluation process and calculates websites\u2019 conformity to legal and ethical guidelines. To illustrate the proposed methodology, this research collects data and then evaluates and classifies 100 websites with respect to their privacy policies using fuzzy equivalence. This article provides a foundation for the development of comprehensive website evaluation methods that include privacy and ethical issues in their evaluations. Future research can investigate the applicability of the proposed methodology and the fuzzy numbers calculated in this article in websites across industries and cultural activities.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/0165551517697610","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,3,3]],"date-time":"2017-03-03T10:26:23Z","timestamp":1488536783000},"page":"425-442","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Evaluation of websites\u2019 compliance to legal and ethical guidelines: A fuzzy logic\u2013based methodology"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"44","author":[{"given":"Xenia J","family":"Mamakou","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Business Administration, Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Dimitris K","family":"Kardaras","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Business Administration, Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Eleutherios A","family":"Papathanassiou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Business Administration, Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,3,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-0165551517697610","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/641205.641209"},{"key":"bibr2-0165551517697610","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1108\/10662249910297778"},{"key":"bibr3-0165551517697610","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.im.2009.02.003"},{"key":"bibr4-0165551517697610","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1108\/10662241011032254"},{"key":"bibr5-0165551517697610","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0165551516653590"},{"key":"bibr6-0165551517697610","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/asi.20530"},{"key":"bibr7-0165551517697610","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.im.2004.01.002"},{"key":"bibr8-0165551517697610","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/isre.1040.0032"},{"key":"bibr9-0165551517697610","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0378-7206(01)00112-4"},{"key":"bibr10-0165551517697610","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/249477"},{"key":"bibr11-0165551517697610","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/1229286"},{"key":"bibr12-0165551517697610","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/248873"},{"key":"bibr13-0165551517697610","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ins.2008.12.012"},{"key":"bibr14-0165551517697610","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.elerap.2011.07.003"},{"key":"bibr15-0165551517697610","author":"US Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW)","year":"1973","journal-title":"Records, computers, and the rights of citizens: report of the secretary\u2019s advisory committee on automated personal data systems"},{"key":"bibr16-0165551517697610","volume-title":"Guidelines on the protection of privacy and transborder flows of personal data, privacy online: OECD guidance on policy and practice","author":"Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)","year":"1980"},{"key":"bibr17-0165551517697610","volume-title":"Convention for the protection of individuals with regard to automatic processing of personal data","author":"Council of Europe","year":"1981"},{"key":"bibr18-0165551517697610","volume-title":"European convention of human rights","author":"Council of Europe","year":"1950"},{"key":"bibr19-0165551517697610","volume-title":"The guidelines concerning computerized personal data files","author":"United Nations","year":"1990"},{"key":"bibr20-0165551517697610","volume-title":"Privacy and the national information infrastructure: principles for providing and using personal information","author":"The Information Infrastructure Task Force (IITF), Information Policy Committee","year":"1995"},{"key":"bibr21-0165551517697610","author":"Directive 95\/46\/EC","year":"1995","journal-title":"Directive 95\/46\/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council"},{"key":"bibr22-0165551517697610","unstructured":"Federal Trade Commission (FTC). 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