Thread by @v0max

More research showing why the "privacy paradox" is a misnomer.

For those unfamiliar, the "privacy paradox" refers to the notion that people *say* they care about privacy, but then *act* in ways that are at odds with those stated preferences (e.g., sharing information online). 1/

https://twitter.com/sapna/status/1077993947354456065

The idea that people's intentions often don't match their actions is nothing new. This has been well-studied with regard to behavior change in psychology. For example, in Ajzen's "Theory of Planned Behavior"
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of…), perceptions of control moderate behavior. 2/

That is, people might *want* to behave a certain way, but if they don't believe they have control, often they will ultimately fail to act. This doesn't mean their intentions weren't true. 3/

With regard to privacy, there are often many impediments that prevent intentions from being manifested as behaviors:
1) Lack of control (i.e., not having a choice)
2) Cost (e.g., it's more expensive to opt out of loyalty cards; privacy becomes a "luxury good")

4/

3) The privacy-preserving choice is not obvious (e.g., poor usability)

I've done a lot of work looking at #3. In a series of controlled laboratory studies, my co-authors and I observed people buying privacy-sensitive items online. 5/

All participants stated strong privacy preferences. Yet, when presented with only information about item pricing, people tended to pick the cheapest items (even though they *could* have read the associated website privacy policies). 6/

However, in another experimental condition, people were also presented with privacy ratings for those websites. Indeed, in this condition, people spent significantly more money to make purchases from merchants with better privacy policies. 7/

We even tested a placebo condition, in which the ratings meant something else (not privacy). Only when people were presented with the easy-to-understand privacy information were they more likely to act in accordance with their stated preferences, spending more money to do so. 8/

Thus, when advertisers cite the privacy paradox to say that people don't *really* care about privacy, it's usually because they're pushing an agenda.

When people are given easy-to-understand choices, the paradox goes away.

That's not a paradox at all. 9/

Privacy is also often one facet of a complex decision.

Example: I like going on vacation. That I am not on vacation 365 days/year doesn't make me a hypocrite; there are other factors at play (e.g., cost, also liking my job, etc.).

Privacy decisions are not made in vacuums. 10/

Anyway, the studies I mentioned can be found here:

guanotronic.com/~serge/papers/…
guanotronic.com/~serge/papers/…