An official website of the United States government
Personally Identifiable Information (PII) leakage can lead to identity theft, financial loss, reputation damage, and anxiety. However, individuals remain largely unaware of their PII exposure on the Internet, and whether providing individuals with information about the extent of their PII exposure can trigger privacy protection actions requires further investigation. In this pilot study, grounded by Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), we examine whether receiving privacy alerts in the form of threat and countermeasure information will trigger senior citizens to engage in protective behaviors. We also examine whether providing personalized information moderates the relationship between information and individuals' perceptions. We contribute to the literature by shedding light on the determinants and barriers to adopting privacy protection behaviors.
more »
« less
Do Different Groups Have Comparable Privacy Tradeoffs?
Personalized systems increasingly employ Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) to protect the identity of their users. In this paper, we are interested in whether the cost-benefit tradeoff — the underlying economics of the privacy calculus — is fairly distributed, or whether some groups of people experience a lower return on investment for their privacy decisions.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 1657774
- PAR ID:
- 10222636
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- CHI 2018 Workshop on Moving Beyond a ‘One-Size Fits All’
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Despite recent widespread deployment of differential privacy, relatively little is known about what users think of differential privacy. In this work, we seek to explore users' privacy expectations related to differential privacy. Specifically, we investigate (1) whether users care about the protections afforded by differential privacy, and (2) whether they are therefore more willing to share their data with differentially private systems. Further, we attempt to understand (3) users' privacy expectations of the differentially private systems they may encounter in practice and (4) their willingness to share data in such systems. To answer these questions, we use a series of rigorously conducted surveys (n=2424). We find that users care about the kinds of information leaks against which differential privacy protects and are more willing to share their private information when the risks of these leaks are less likely to happen. Additionally, we find that the ways in which differential privacy is described in-the-wild haphazardly set users' privacy expectations, which can be misleading depending on the deployment. We synthesize our results into a framework for understanding a user's willingness to share information with differentially private systems, which takes into account the interaction between the user's prior privacy concerns and how differential privacy is described.more » « less
-
Over the past few years, the two dominant app platforms made major improvements to their policies surrounding child-directed apps. While prior work repeatedly demonstrated that privacy issues were prevalent in child-directed apps, it is unclear whether platform policies can lead child-directed apps to comply with privacy requirements, when laws alone have not. To understand the effect of recent changes in platform policies (e.g., whether they result in greater levels of compliance with applicable privacy laws), we conducted a large-scale measurement study of the privacy behaviors of 7,377 child-directed Android apps, as well as a follow-up survey with some of their developers. We observed a drastic decrease in the number of apps that transmitted personal data without verifiable parental consent and an increase in the number of apps that encrypted their transmissions using TLS. However, improper use of third-party SDKs still led to privacy issues (e.g., inaccurate disclosures in apps’ privacy labels). Our analysis of apps’ privacy practices over a period of a few months in 2023 and a comparison of our results with those observed a few years ago demonstrate gradual improvements in apps’ privacy practices over time. We discuss how app platforms can further improve their policies and emphasize the role of enforcement in making such policies effective.more » « less
-
How does protecting consumers' privacy affect the value of their personal data? We model an intermediary that uses consumers' data to influence prices set by a seller. When privacy is protected, consumers choose whether to disclose their data to the intermediary. When privacy is not protected, the intermediary can access consumers' data without their consent. We illustrate that protecting privacy has complex effects. It can increase the value of some consumers' data while decreasing that of others. It can have redistributive effects, by benefiting some consumers at the expense of others. Finally, it can increase average prices and reduce trade.more » « less
-
Previous studies have demonstrated that privacy issues in mobile apps often stem from the integration of third-party libraries (TPLs). To shed light on factors that contribute to these issues, we investigate the privacy-related configuration choices available to and made by Android app developers who incorporate the Facebook Android SDK and Facebook Audience Network SDK in their apps. We compile these Facebook SDKs' privacy-related settings and their defaults. Employing a multi-method approach that integrates static and dynamic analysis, we analyze more than 6,000 popular apps to determine whether the apps incorporate Facebook SDKs and, if so, whether and how developers modify settings. Finally, we assess how these settings align with the privacy practices that developers disclose in the apps’ privacy labels and policies. We observe widespread inconsistencies between practices and disclosures in popular apps. These inconsistencies often stem from privacy settings, including a substantial number of cases in which apps retain default settings over alternatives that offer greater privacy. We observe fewer possible compliance issues in potentially child-directed apps, but issues persist even in these apps. We discuss remediation strategies that SDK and TPL providers could employ to help developers, particularly developers with fewer resources who rely heavily on SDKs. Our recommendations include aligning default privacy settings with data minimization principles and other conservative practices and making privacy-related SDK information both easier to find and harder to miss.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- The DOI is not currently available.
