Data privacy governance and employee trust: evidence from Vietnamese commercial banks.

INTRODUCTION: This study examines the structural mechanisms through which digital ethics governance and data protection strategies influence employee trust and adaptive performance in the commercial banking sector. METHODS: A cross-sectional quantitative design was employed, collecting data from 402 bank employees in Vietnam. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and PLSpredict were used to test the hypotheses and evaluate predictive capabilities. RESULTS: Results reveal that digital ethics governance and data protection significantly enhance organizational justice. Organizational justice acts as a critical mediator toward employee trust. Furthermore, digital transformation intensity and organizational culture support directly promote employee trust, which in turn drives adaptive behavior. DISCUSSION: The findings highlight that technological adoption alone is insufficient without strong ethical governance and structural support. Banks must integrate ethical safeguards with culture and justice mechanisms to foster trust and adaptive performance.