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Privacy Protection, Security, and Consumer Retention

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  • Jullien, Bruno
  • Lefouili, Yassine
  • Riordan, Michael

Abstract

A website monetizes information it collects about its customers by charging third parties for targeted access to them. Allowing for third parties who are well-intentioned, a nuisance, or even malicious, the resulting consumer experiences might be good, bad, or neutral. As consumers learn from experience, the website especially risks losing those customers who suffer a bad experience. Customer retention thus motivates the website to be cautious about monetization, or to spend resources to screen third parties. We study the website's equilibrium privacy policy, its welfare properties, competition in the market for information, and the impact of regulations improving transparency and consumer control.

Suggested Citation

  • Jullien, Bruno & Lefouili, Yassine & Riordan, Michael, 2018. "Privacy Protection, Security, and Consumer Retention," TSE Working Papers 18-947, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Jun 2020.
    • Handle: RePEc:tse:wpaper:32902
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    Cited by:

    1. Flavio Pino, 2022. "The microeconomics of data – a survey," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 49(3), pages 635-665, September.
    2. Sarit Markovich & Yaron Yehezkel, 2021. "“For the public benefit”: who should control our data?," Working Papers 21-08, NET Institute.
    3. Dirk Bergemann & Alessandro Bonatti & Tan Gan, 2022. "The economics of social data," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 53(2), pages 263-296, June.
    4. Abrardi, Laura & Cambini, Carlo, 2022. "Carpe Data: Protecting online privacy with naive users," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    5. Bonatti, Alessandro & Argenziano, Rossella, 2020. "Information Revelation and Privacy Protection," CEPR Discussion Papers 15203, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Annie Liang & Erik Madsen, 2020. "Data and Incentives," Papers 2006.06543, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2022.
    7. Bergemann, Dirk & Ottaviani, Marco, 2021. "Information Markets and Nonmarkets," CEPR Discussion Papers 16459, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Alessandro Bonatti, 2023. "The Platform Dimension of Digital Privacy," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of Privacy, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Itay P. Fainmesser & Andrea Galeotti & Ruslan Momot, 2023. "Digital Privacy," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(6), pages 3157-3173, June.
    10. Wing Man Wynne Lam & Jacob Seifert, 2023. "Regulating Data Privacy and Cybersecurity," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(1), pages 143-175, March.
    11. Loertscher, Simon & Marx, Leslie M., 2020. "Digital monopolies: Privacy protection or price regulation?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Privacy Policy; Consumer Retention; Personal Data; Regulation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation

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