Privacy evaluation: what empirical research on users’ valuation of personal data tells us

Abstract

The EU General Data Protection Regulation is supposed to introduce several innovations, including the right of data portability for data subjects. In this article, we review recent literature documenting experiments to assess users' valuation of personal data, with the purpose to provide policy-oriented remarks. In particular, contextual aspects, conflicts between declared and revealed preferences, as well as the suggestion that personal data is not conceivable as a single good, but instead as a bundle, are taken into account, also discussing potential shortcomings and pitfalls in the surveyed experiments. Data portability is supposed to increase consumer empowerment; still, several technological preconditions need to apply to make this right actually enforceable.

Generalized Trust, Need for Cognitive Closure, and the Perceived Acceptability of Personal Data Collection

“…The literature examining information privacy is extensive and interdisciplinary; Acquisti et al (2015) [25], Morando et al (2014) [26], and Smith et al (2011) [18] provide general reviews. Given the economic tradeoffs involved with the decision to share personal information, one subset of studies has explored whether, and how much, people are willing to pay for privacy [12,[27][28][29][30][31].…”

Internet Users’ Valuation of Enhanced Data Protection on Social Media: Which Aspects of Privacy Are Worth the Most?

“…Second, as privacy concerns are context-dependent (e.g., Nissenbaum, 2009 ), the findings from this study are not generalizable to other platforms, but are specific to Facebook. Similarly, other measures assessed in this study, such as privacy concerns or risk perceptions, differ across countries, and culture ( Wildavsky and Dake, 1990 ; Krasnova et al, 2012 ; Morando et al, 2014 ; Eurobarometer, 2016 ). Therefore, we will control for this by employing an international, cross-border sampling strategy.…”

Payments Data: Do Consumers Want to Keep Them in a Safe or Turn Them into Gold?

“…5 Kokolakis (2017) reviews the literature on the informational privacy paradox and shows that there are studies that provide evidence of this paradox and studies that challenge its existence. dependency is also highlighted by other researchers that review the literature, such as Kokolakis (2017) and Morando et al (2014). In addition, it is emphasised that attitudes depend on the type of data involved.…”