This article discusses how consumers’ perceived privacy violations are affected less by technical details of whether the data is shared and more by expectations on how it is used.
In response to growing consumer privacy concerns and governmental regulations, privacy-enhancing technologies (“PETs”) are being developed in the AdTech space to allow ad targeting while limiting the flow and use of user data relative to current practices. Will PETs succeed in alleviating consumers’ privacy concerns?
In this article, coauthors Kinshuk Jerath and Lorenzo Michelozzi discuss a recent study suggests that PETs can somewhat reduce consumers’ perceived privacy violations relative to current practices. Other practices that do not allow the targeting of online ads based on consumer behavior, such as contextual advertising, achieve more substantial reductions. These findings suggest that consumers’ perceived privacy violations are affected less by technical details of whether/how the data is shared and more by expectations on how it is used and how individual-specific the outcomes will be. A consumer-centric approach to developing privacy solutions in AdTech, which more holistically considers consumers’ perceived privacy violations, is recommended. Consumer education on privacy-enhancing initiatives may also help to bridge the gap between technical definitions of privacy and consumers’ perceptions.
The article was originally published by Competition Policy International’s TechREG Chronicle in July 2024.
Washington
