Misplaced Confidences: Privacy and the Control Paradox
Laura Brandimarte; Alessandro Acquisti; and George Loewenstein
Access Misplaced Confidences: Privacy and the Control Paradox (Brandimarte et al., 2013).
doi.org/10.1177/1948550612455931
Open access preprint via Carnegie Mellon University.
We test the hypothesis that increasing individuals’ perceived control over the release and access of private information—even information that allows them to be personally identified––will increase their willingness to disclose sensitive information. If their willingness to divulge increases sufficiently, such an increase in control can, paradoxically, end up leaving them more vulnerable. Our findings highlight how, if people respond in a sufficiently offsetting fashion, technologies designed to protect them can end up exacerbating the risks they face.
Brandimarte, L., Acquisti, A., & Loewenstein, G. (2013). Misplaced Confidences: Privacy and the Control Paradox. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 4(3), 340-347. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550612455931
Contributor: Chelcie Juliet Rowell, Harvard University Library; co-convener of the ACRL Privacy Literacy Discussion Group and co-principal investigator of the National Forum on the Prevention of Cyber Sexual Abuse.
