Your browsing behavior for a Big Mac: Economics of Personal Information Online

TL;DR

This study quantifies how users value different types of personal information online, revealing preferences and privacy concerns, especially regarding monetization by service providers.

Contribution

It provides empirical monetary valuations of various personal information types by users, highlighting differences in perceived value and privacy attitudes.

Findings

Users value offline identity information three times more than browsing data.

Financial and social information are valued higher than search and shopping data.

Users prefer exchanging PI for better services but oppose monetization of their PI.

Abstract

Most online services (Google, Facebook etc.) operate by providing a service to users for free, and in return they collect and monetize personal information (PI) of the users. This operational model is inherently economic, as the "good" being traded and monetized is PI. This model is coming under increased scrutiny as online services are moving to capture more PI of users, raising serious privacy concerns. However, little is known on how users valuate different types of PI while being online, as well as the perceptions of users with regards to exploitation of their PI by online service providers. In this paper, we study how users valuate different types of PI while being online, while capturing the context by relying on Experience Sampling. We were able to extract the monetary value that 168 participants put on different pieces of PI. We find that users value their PI related to their offline identities more (3 times) than their browsing behavior. Users also value information pertaining to financial transactions and social network interactions more than activities like search and shopping. We also found that while users are overwhelmingly in favor of exchanging their PI in return for improved online services, they are uncomfortable if these same providers monetize their PI.