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Privacy Choice During Crisis

Author

Listed:
  • Anindya Ghose

    (Stern School of Business, New York University, New York, New York 10012)

  • Beibei Li

    (Information and Public Policy Management, Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213)

  • Meghanath Macha

    (Adobe Inc., San Jose, California 95110)

  • Chenshuo Sun

    (School of Business, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China; and College of Business, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)

  • Natasha Zhang Foutz

    (McIntire School of Commerce, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903)

Abstract

Consumers’ privacy choice between withholding and sharing personal data may change during crises. Crises not only alter personal considerations of benefits and costs of this choice, but also trigger societal considerations, such as use of shared data in crisis management. Although the literature on privacy choice has focused on personal considerations, research on how this choice is influenced by broader circumstances remains sparse. We address this topic by leveraging newly available location big data and a global public health crisis as a natural shock. Analyzing 22 billion raw records of intertemporal individual-level mobile location data across a wide spectrum of cities in the United States, we present the first large-scale evidence that opt-out reduces during a crisis, and societal, beyond personal, considerations might have influenced consumers’ privacy choices.

Suggested Citation

  • Anindya Ghose & Beibei Li & Meghanath Macha & Chenshuo Sun & Natasha Zhang Foutz, 2026. "Privacy Choice During Crisis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 72(6), pages 5068-5082, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:72:y:2026:i:6:p:5068-5082
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2022.00017
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