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Does Imperfect Data Privacy Stop People from Collecting Personal Data?

Author

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  • Simeon Schudy

    (Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Department of Economics, Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1, D-80539 Munich, Germany)

  • Verena Utikal

    (University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Lange Gasse 20, D-90403 Nürnberg, Germany)

Abstract

Many companies try to access personal information to discriminate among consumers. We analyse how privacy regulations affect the acquisition and disclosure of information in a simple game of persuasion. Theory predicts that no data will be acquired with Disclosure Duty of collected data whereas Consent Law with perfect privacy results in complete information acquisition. Imperfect privacy, i.e., an environment in which leaks of collected data are possible, gives rise to multiple equilibria. Results from a laboratory experiment confirm the qualitative differences between Consent Law and Disclosure Duty and show that imperfect privacy does not stop people from collecting personal information.

Suggested Citation

  • Simeon Schudy & Verena Utikal, 2018. "Does Imperfect Data Privacy Stop People from Collecting Personal Data?," Games, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-23, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jgames:v:9:y:2018:i:1:p:14-:d:134809
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Janis Cloos & Björn Frank & Lukas Kampenhuber & Stephany Karam & Nhat Luong & Daniel Möller & Maria Monge-Larrain & Nguyen Tan Dat & Marco Nilgen & Christoph Rössler, 2019. "Is Your Privacy for Sale? An Experiment on the Willingness to Reveal Sensitive Information," Games, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-15, July.
    2. Bardey, David & De Donder, Philippe & Mantilla, César, 2019. "How is the trade-off between adverse selection and discrimination risk affected by genetic testing? Theory and experiment," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).

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