Data Privacy and Business Performance of E-commerce Industry: Towards Cybersecurity through Transparency and Control

Cybersecurity is a foundational element of the modern digital ecosystem, with data privacy representing one of its most critical operational challenges. As organizations and society confront persistent threats of data breaches, unauthorized access, and mishandling of personal information, cybersecurity strategies must extend beyond traditional perimeter defences to incorporate strong privacy-preserving controls that reduce systemic risk. This imperative is particularly acute in e commerce, now a primary global economic engine, where rapid growth in consumer bases and the sheer volume, velocity, and sensitivity of data exchanged across platforms create expanded attack surfaces and elevate cybersecurity risk. This research framework will examine how these cybersecurity dimensions of data privacy policies influence the commercial performance of Malaysian e-commerce enterprises. Using a mixed-methods approach, qualitative benchmarking assessed the cybersecurity maturity of data privacy policies across selected platforms. Findings indicated that Carousell, Ezbuy, and Mudah exhibited low levels of transparency and control, signaling weaker cybersecurity postures and higher exposure to privacy-related threats, while Lazada and Shopee demonstrated the highest levels, reflecting stronger alignment with cybersecurity best practices. Quantitative analysis of 379 respondents triangulated these results, confirming that increased transparency and control in data privacy practices strengthen cybersecurity outcomes, which in turn enhance business performance and consumer trust. The research provides internal, performance, and practice benchmarking for Malaysian e-commerce platforms with specific emphasis on cybersecurity-relevant transparency and control mechanisms, and recommends continuous, transparent review of data privacy policies as a core cybersecurity practice to enable effective privacy communication, mitigate breach risk, and support resilient business decision-making.