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5 Social Science and Behavioral Economics of Privacy - Panel Summary
Pages 21-30

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From page 21...
... One study demonstrating this effect provided a set of substantive privacy controls under different names to participants. Participants presented with the options labeled "privacy settings" were 56 percent more likely to actually use protective options compared to a group given the same options labeled "survey settings." A similar experiment suggested that perceived changes in the risk of data disclosure can have a more profound effect on behavior than the objective differences in risk.
From page 22...
... She has heard anecdotes suggesting that many companies are becoming increasingly risk averse when it comes to research and development that could lead to privacy innovations, likely due to regulatory barriers to conducting such research and the potential that findings about the privacy implications of their own practices could result in more scrutiny from oversight bodies.
From page 23...
... the social value of privacy. She began by arguing that any idea of an online privacy market fails because it fails to accurately reflect consumer preferences.
From page 24...
... Strandburg then pointed out that privacy is not only an individual value, and that online privacy markets, consent-based systems, or even democratic voting systems do not necessarily account for the social value of privacy. She went on to explain that privacy may have positive externalities, such as the social benefits of individuals exploring non-majoritarian views.
From page 25...
... Staddon added that the flood of re-identification of purportedly anonymous databases (e.g. of publicly released AOL search logs and Netflix customer rental data)
From page 26...
... The section on lawfulness reads as follows: We support and defend the Constitution, and comply with the laws of the United States, ensuring that we carry out our mission in a manner that respects privacy, civil liberties, and human rights obligations. Joel pointed out that the research on how people feel about their own privacy vs.
From page 27...
... One participant suggested that the firewall between the data held by commercial entities and that held by the government has disintegrated and wondered what effect this had on public trust. Turow noted that his surveys had not considered this topic, but said that, in addition to the government having legal mechanisms for directly accessing company data, there is potential concern about the ability of the government to legally purchase information from an independent data broker that they would not otherwise have been authorized to access.
From page 28...
... Turow noted that loyalty programs have been increasingly used as a lure to get consumers to share data; such programs can be used in many ways. He described the current debate within the retail community about more elaborate price tailoring practices, where prices vary from individual to individual based on the profiles the company has built about each, a strategy enabled by the Internet and mobile shopping.
From page 29...
... Privacy Research The group also discussed challenges to conducting innovative privacy research. Staddon pointed out that the heavy public scrutiny of Internet companies creates a disincentive for companies to carry out research or make data available to researchers.
From page 30...
... On the other hand, he also asked whether inaction on the part of companies could lead to a tipping point such that people stop disclosing information to retail, Internet, or telecommunications companies, which would presumably also impact the IC's ability to do its job. He recalled the contextual nature of privacy, and suggested that it could be helpful to learn more about the contextual nature of individual rationality in making privacy decisions.


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