Benjamin Wittes

The contemporary debate about the effects of new technology on individual privacy centers on the idea that privacy is an eroding value. The erosion is ongoing and takes place because of the government and big corporations that collect data on us all: In the consumer space, technology and the companies that create it erode privacy, as consumers trade away their solitude either unknowingly or in exchange for convenience and efficiency.

On January 13, we released a Brookings paper that challenges this idea. Entitled, “The Privacy Paradox II: Measuring the Privacy Benefits of Privacy Threats,” we try to measure the extent to which this focus ignores the significant privacy benefits of the technologies that concern privacy advocates. And we conclude that quantifiable effects in consumer behavior strongly support the reality of these benefits.

Evidence indicates that concerns over privacy do not dampen consumer enthusiasm for new technologies. Scholars have generally attributed this phenomenon to individuals prioritizing convenience, efficiency, or service delivery over privacy. However, a 2015 Brookings paper proposed an alternative explanation, arguing that in fact, countervailing privacy concerns may be a significant part of consumers’ value judgments. For example, the authors hypothesized that people who buy personal products online do so not just because they may be cheaper or more convenient to buy that way, but also, perhaps even most importantly, because of the privacy benefits of the online transaction.