Design Technology Lab | NYU Abu Dhabi
Anthony Spalvieri-Kruse, Azza Abouzied, Jay Chen
Abstract
Online privacy is a highly contentious issue that has recently come to the forefront of public awareness perhaps due to revelations regarding domestic spying in the United States. For most users, however, privacy becomes an issue when foul play occurs: most users accept online service agreements without reading these documents which may or may not outline privacy implications. Even if a user recognizes a potential privacy threat, he/she may choose to ignore the threat as they assume service providers do not have malicious intentions. We believe such user behaviors are an outcome of poor privacy awareness. First, users have little information on the extent of information being collected about them and by whom. Second, it is difficult to determine how the combination of individual pieces of information collected by apparently distinct sources can reveal an unforeseen additional piece of information. Finally, users find the legalese language of service agreements hard to understand. Our research helps users understand the implications of revealing their private information online.