Testing Privacy Awareness

Abstract

In web-based business processes the disclosure of personal data by the user is an essential part and mandatory for the processes. Privacy policies help to inform the user about his/her rights and to protect the user's privacy. In this paper we present a test to empirically measure how the user's privacy awareness changes by presenting specific elements of the privacy policy in close proximity to the required data items. We compare an experimental group using an enhanced interface to a control group using a conventional interface regarding their capability to recall the agreed privacy-related facts. A concrete online survey has been performed. The major results are presented.

Watching Them Watching Me: Browser Extensions Impact on User Privacy Awareness and Concern

“…We conducted a qualitative lab study to evaluate the effects of the privacy extensions on user's privacy awareness and concerns. Our goals were: (1) to understand users' baseline 4 http://www.alexa.com/topsites, list retrieved on July 1, 2014. privacy awareness and concerns during browsing without using an extension; (2) to learn how each extension influences privacy awareness and concern; and (3) to understand the impact of different user interface elements. Our study was approved by CMU's Institutional Review Board.…”

“…In the context of online tracking, privacy awareness entails an understanding about what data is being collected by which entities for what purposes, what entities that information is shared with, and corresponding risks and benefits [17]. Bergmann found that presenting specific elements of a privacy policy in close proximity to the required data positively impacts privacy awareness [4]. Malandrino et al found that people without a technical background were likely to take steps to protect their privacy when made privacy aware [11].…”

“…To better understand the tracker data shown to users, we evaluated what trackers each tool detects on Alexa's top 100 websites. 4 We instrumented each extension to log trackers detected after 10 seconds on a page. Each extension was installed in a dedicated Chrome instance in a separate virtual machine.…”

“…Over 60% had at least a bachelor's degree. They held a handful of occupations: student (14), admin (4), educator (2), and other (4). No participant reported being color blind.…”

Privacy settings from contextual attributes: A case study using Google Buzz

“…INTRODUCTION Privacy can be defined as "the right of self-determination regarding data disclosure" [4]. Hence, individual privacy settings for online social networks determine what information a user discloses to others.…”