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Data privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA define a right of access empowering consumers to view the data companies store about them. Companies satisfy these requirements in part via data downloads, or downloadable archives containing this information. Data downloads vary in format, organization, comprehensiveness, and content. It is unknown, however, whether current data downloads actually achieve the transparency goals embodied by the right of access. In this paper, we report on the first exploration of the design of data downloads. Through 12 focus groups involving 42 participants, we gathered reactions to six companies’ data downloads. Using co-design techniques, we solicited ideas for future data download designs, formats, and tools. Most participants indicated that current offerings need improvement to be useful, emphasizing the need for better filtration, visualization, and summarization to help them hone in on key information. 

Data brokers and advertisers increasingly collect data in one context and use it in another. When users encounter a misuse of their data, do they subsequently disclose less information? We report on human-subjects experiments with 25 in-person and 280 online participants. First, participants provided personal information amidst distractor questions. A week later, while participants completed another survey, they received either a robotext or online banner ad seemingly unrelated to the study. Half of the participants received an ad containing their name, partner's name, preferred cuisine, and location; others received a generic ad. We measured how many of 43 potentially invasive questions participants subsequently chose to answer. Participants reacted negatively to the personalized ad, yet answered nearly all invasive questions accurately. We unpack our results relative to the privacy paradox, contextual integrity, and power dynamics in crowdworker platforms.