Trying to Value Online Privacy

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2014/01/trying_to_value.html

by belorn • 12 years ago

9 4 12 years ago

schneier.com

higherpurpose• 12 years ago

Sounds about right.

cyphunk• 12 years ago

If anyone knows of additional research on the value of privacy please pass it along.

cgio• 12 years ago

I am doing research on the value of information. From an economic perspective one could argue that the value of privacy can be inferred by the value of the lack thereof. I am not strictly of this opinion, but let's assume that works as a heuristic for argument's sake. Still the problem is that I am leaning towards the opinion that information has no intrinsic value and value comes from the processes that surround its use. Improvements in information processing capacity would therefore increase the value of privacy but we would also not be able to assert a value on our own privacy not knowing how the information that breaches it is used.

The truth is that privacy is much more complex to assess. In the context of our social existence we customarily sacrifice parts of our privacy to assert identity. On the other hand we do so in communication contexts. Communication has attributes that limit its scope (geographical, temporal etc.) It is very difficult to understand the impact of the acceptance of an overarching and limitless communication context, whether that is with a company or with a government.

If you are interested in the outputs of my research do not hesitate to pm me and I will keep you posted.

quesera• 12 years ago

According to the abstract, a better title would be:

How much more would the average consumer be willing to pay for a given app, if it didn't collect any personal info or show ads?

In that context, their conclusion of "about $5" seems more reasonable, and encouraging.

Trying to Value Online Privacy

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