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

Jasmin Mahmoodi,Maja Vovko,Jitka Čurdová,Christoph Henking,Marvin Kunz,Peter Mohr,Karla Matić

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01516

Abstract

As the development of the Internet and social media has led to pervasive data collection and usage practices, consumers’ privacy concerns have increasingly grown stronger. While previous research has investigated consumer valuation of personal data and privacy, only few studies have investigated valuation of different privacy aspects (e.g., third party sharing). Addressing this research gap in the literature, the present study explores Internet users’ valuations of three different privacy aspects on a social networking service (i.e., Facebook), which are commonly captured in privacy policies (i.e., data collection, data control, and third party sharing). A total of 350 participants will be recruited for an experimental online study. The experimental design will consecutively contrast a conventional, free-of-charge version of Facebook with four hypothetical, privacy-enhanced premium versions of the same service. The privacy-enhanced premium versions will offer (1) restricted data collection on side of the company; (2) enhanced data control for users; and (3) no third party sharing, respectively. A fourth premium version offers full protection of all three privacy aspects. Participants’ valuation of the privacy aspects captured in the premium versions will be quantified measuring willingness-to-pay. Additionally, a psychological test battery will be employed to examine the psychological mechanisms (e.g., privacy concerns, trust, and risk perceptions) underlying the valuation of privacy. Overall, this study will offer insights into valuation of different privacy aspects, thus providing valuable suggestions for economically sustainable privacy enhancements and alternative business models that are beneficial to consumers, businesses, practitioners, and policymakers, alike.

Highlights

The advent of the Internet and social media has drastically transformed all aspects of our lives; how we work, consume, and communicate
Sensitive personal information, including credit scores, of almost 150 million people was compromised in the 2017 Equifax data breach (e.g., Zou and Schaub, 2018) and around 87 million Facebook users were impacted by the Cambridge Analytica data scandal in 2018 (e.g., Revell, 2018)
Though previous research suggests that third-party sharing may be valued most (Esrock and Ferre, 1999; Hann et al, 2002), we argue that it is possible that companies’ restrictions on data collection may be valued more, since if no data are collected, users may be less worried about their data being shared with third parties

Summary

Introduction

The advent of the Internet and social media has drastically transformed all aspects of our lives; how we work, consume, and communicate (see Stewart and Segars, 2002; Paine et al, 2007). While this has had considerable advantages for society overall, the growing influence of the Internet and technologies has always been linked to concerns for privacy and the collection and use of personal. Even privacy-concerned individuals join social networking services, such as Facebook, and share large amounts of personal information on these platforms (Acquisti and Gross, 2006)

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