Nothing to Hide? Gender and Age Differences in Willingness to Share Data

Many digital applications in finance and elsewhere rely on the willingness of users to voluntarily share personal data. Yet some users may be less comfortable sharing data than others, potentially limiting the representativeness of resulting datasets. To document differences in the willingness to share data, we draw on questions to a representative sample of U.S. households added to the New York Fed's Survey of Consumer Expectations. We find that women are less willing than men, and older individuals less willing than the young, to share their financial transaction data in exchange for better offers on financial services. These differences can only partly be explained by variation in related attitudes and concerns. Through a randomized priming experiment using information about the California Consumer Privacy Act, we demonstrate that privacy regulation can increase individuals' willingness to share data, though this effect does not vary significantly by gender or age.