The Sense of Privacy
by
Professor of Information Technology and Public Policy, PwC William W. Cooper Professor of Risk and Regulatory Innovation
Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University
Friday, April 19, 2019
10:30 AM – noon
Speakman Hall Suite 200
Abstract
Many factors affect privacy behavior in both conscious and unconscious manners. Some of those factors are sensorial cues: hearing, seeing, or smelling the presence of others. Human beings may be wired to react to those cues even when they do not carry information about actual trade-offs associated with privacy choices, and thus should not normatively influence privacy calculus. In four experiments (N=829), we examine the effect on privacy-relevant behavior (the disclosure of personal information) of sensorial cues signaling the presence of other humans, including cases when that presence does not materially affect risks or benefits associated with personal disclosures. Four types of sensorial cues (proximity, visual, auditory, and olfactory), each signaling the presence of another person around the participant’s physical space, produce a consistent and significant inhibitory effect on disclosure of personal, intimate information in an online survey. The findings suggest a visceral, and in part unconscious, influence of sensorial stimuli on privacy choices. We discuss the implications of the findings in the context of privacy (and security) decision making in a digital age, where physical cues human beings may have adapted to use for detection of threats may be absent or even manipulated by third parties.
Bio
Alessandro Acquisti is a Professor of Information Technology and Public Policy at the Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), and the PwC William W. Cooper Professor of Risk and Regulatory Innovation. He is the director of the Peex (Privacy Economics Experiments) lab at CMU, and the co-director of Carnegie Mellon’s CBDR (Center for Behavioral and Decision Research). Alessandro investigates the economics of privacy. His studies have spearheaded the investigation of privacy and disclosure behavior in online social networks, and the application of behavioral economics to the study of privacy and information security decision making. Alessandro has been the recipient of the PET Award for Outstanding Research in Privacy Enhancing Technologies, the IBM Best Academic Privacy Faculty Award, the IEEE Cybersecurity Award for Innovation, Heinz College School of Information’s Teaching Excellence Award, and numerous Best Paper awards. His studies have been published in journals, books, and proceedings across a variety of fields, including Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Management Science, Journal of Economic Literature, Marketing Science, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and Journal of Experimental Psychology. Alessandro has testified before the U.S. Senate and House committees on issues related to privacy policy and consumer behavior, and has been frequently invited to consult on privacy policy issues by various government bodies, including the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Council of Economic Advisers, the Federal Trade Commission, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and the European Commission. Alessandro’s findings have been featured in national and international media outlets, including the Economist, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Financial Times, Wired.com, NPR, CNN, and 60 Minutes; his TED talks on privacy and human behavior have been viewed over 1.2 million times online. His 2009 study on the predictability of Social Security numbers was featured in the “Year in Ideas” issue of the NYT Magazine (the SSNs assignment scheme was changed by the US Social Security Administration in 2011). Alessandro holds a PhD from UC Berkeley, and Master degrees from UC Berkeley, the London School of Economics, and Trinity College Dublin. He has held visiting positions at the Universities of Rome, Paris, and Freiburg (visiting professor); Harvard University (visiting scholar); University of Chicago (visiting fellow); Microsoft Research (visiting researcher); and Google (visiting scientist). He has been a member of the National Academies’ Committee on public response to alerts and warnings using social media, he is a member of the Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), and he is a Carnegie Fellow (inaugural class).