Giving up your privacy for free after Snowden's revelation

Grazia Cecere ()
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Grazia Cecere: IMT-BS - DEFI - Département Droit, Économie et Finances - TEM - Télécom Ecole de Management - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - IMT-BS - Institut Mines-Télécom Business School - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris], RITM - Réseaux Innovation Territoires et Mondialisation - UP11 - Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11, LITEM - Laboratoire en Innovation, Technologies, Economie et Management (EA 7363) - UEVE - Université d'Évry-Val-d'Essonne - TEM - Télécom Ecole de Management

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Abstract: The massive collection of personal data revealed by Snowden in June 2013 has focused individuals' attention on possible personal data misuses by firms, or, even worse, by governments. This event represents an interesting natural experiment to study the evolution of individuals' privacy behaviors. We exploit this to investigate whether after these revelations, individuals feel more or less comfortable with the fact that some Internet companies provide access to free services in exchange for personal data. We analyze individual data collected in Europe before and after Snowden's revelations, and we estimate acceptance using pooled cross section. The results show that privacy concerns reduce the probability to accept the actual model as well as concern related to public video surveillance program. To measure the net effect of being informed about the collection of personal data, we use propensity score matching as we are able to distinguish informed and not informed individuals. We find that to be informed about the Snowden' revelations has reduced the probability to accept the actual model offered by Internet companies. The results suggest the existence of a demand for privacy and thus for privacy enhancing services.

Date: 2017-03-10
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Published in 3rd Industrial Organization in the Digital Economy Workshop, Mar 2017, Liège, Belgium

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02373793

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