Alessandro Acquisti

We study the impact of increasing online intermediation in legacy industries. We develop a duopoly model where an intermediary platform enables firms to attract consumers from competitors in exchange for a fee. We show that the platform can induce firms to join, even when they cannot expect benefits from joining. When both firms join, they pass down the platform fee to consumers. As the popularity of the platform rises among consumers, it can raise its fee to extract a growing proportion of the benefits it creates. We test the predictions of our model by analyzing the adoption of OpenTable by restaurants in New York City. We show that after the platform becomes prevalent, restaurants that use it raise their prices by an amount equivalent to the fees charged by the platform. In contrast, we observe almost no effect of adoption on propensity to exit–a proxy for restaurants’ profitability.

In support of a letter received from Cathay Wagantall, Member of Parliament, Yorkton-Melville constituency, Council approved the following resolution: That, given that the alarming rate of suicide in Canada constitutes a national health crisis, the House call on the government to take immediate action, in collaboration with our provinces to establish a national suicide prevention hotline that consolidates all suicide crisis numbers into one easy to remember three-digit (988) hotline that is accessible to all

In 2017, we published in ACM Computing Surveys a review of the rapidly expanding field of research on behavioral hurdles and nudges in privacy and information security. In this chapter, we augment that review by considering novel research and interesting developments in this area. We consider the expanding literature on privacy behavioral and decision-making hurdles, the ongoing debate on rationality in consumer decision-making, and the so-called privacy paradox, as well as the expanding literature on both nudges and deceptive patterns (also known as “dark patterns”). We conclude by examining the effectiveness of nudges as tools for helping individuals manage their privacy online.

There is a widespread perception that computer crime sentencing is too harsh. But this criticism has occurred in the absence of comprehensive, multi‐year data on how computer crimes are actually sentenced and how those sentences compare to other, purportedly similar crimes, such as trespass, burglary, or fraud. This article uses an analysis of real‐world sentencing data to examine how the computer crimes are actually sentenced. We combined court filings and U.S. Sentencing Commission data files to build a custom data set of 1095 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) sentences from 2005 through 1998. Our results show that CFAA sentences are sentenced differently from trespass, burglary, or non‐CFAA fraud crimes; that sentences in which the defendant exceeded authorized access have declined over the years; and that the “sophisticated means” and “special skills” enhancements have been less …

Prior research found that a significant portion of EU-based websites responded to the GDPR by implementing privacy dialogs that contained inadequate consent options or dark patterns nudging visitors towards accepting tracking. Less attention, so far, has been devoted to capturing the evolution of those privacy dialogs over time. We study the evolution of privacy dialogs for a period of 18 months after the GDPR became effective using screenshots from the homepages of 911 US and EU news and media websites. We assess the impact of government and third-party actions that provided additional guidance and tools for compliance on privacy dialogs' choice architecture. Over time, we observe an increase in the use of privacy dialogs providing the option to accept or reject tracking, and a reduction of nudges that encourage users to accept tracking. While the debate over the extent to which various stakeholders' …

By several accounts, the economics of privacy has grown into a remarkably successful field of research. As the means of collecting and using individuals’ data have expanded, so has the body of work investigating trade-offs associated with those data flows. The number of scholars working in the area has grown, much like the breadth of topics investigated. References to the economic value of personal data have become common in policy and regulation, and so have mentions of economic dimensions of privacy problems.Thinly veiled underneath those successes, however, lies a less encouraging trend. In this manuscript, I argue that the very success of the economics of privacy has laid the foundation for a potentially adverse effect on the public debate around privacy. Economic arguments have become central to the debate around privacy. When used as complements to considerations less amenable to economic quantification, those arguments are valuable tools: they capture a portion of the multiform implications of evolving privacy boundaries. When, instead, economic arguments crowd out those other non-economic considerations from the public discourse around privacy, problematic scenarios arise. In one scenario, the economic analysis of privacy will keep growing in influence, but its overly narrow conception of privacy will impoverish rather than augment the depth of the debate around privacy. In a second scenario, less likely but equally problematic, the economics of privacy will progressively undermine its own relevance by failing to account for the complexity and nuance of modern privacy problems.

We study the impact of the implementation of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework on the Apple App Store ecosystem. We use comprehensive data on every app available in both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store ecosystems in the eighteen-month period around the implementation of ATT, and a difference-in-differences analysis to investigate whether the introduction of the privacy transparency framework affected the incentives for developers in the Apple ecosystem to create new apps, update their existing apps, or withdraw from the market. We also leverage data on the presence of Software Development Kits (SDK) in a select number of apps in each ecosystem to study how developers adapted specific functionalities in their products, such as the use of advertising platforms or payment systems. We find that the number of available apps in the Apple App Store ecosystem quickly recovers after an initial drop following the introduction of ATT. When analyzing the use of SDKs, we find a reduction in the use of Monetization and Ad Mediation SDKs, and an increase in the use of Authentication and Payments SDKs. Our results suggest developers did not withdraw from the market after ATT and instead adapted to operate under the conditions of a more protective privacy framework.

Concerns regarding online tracking and excessive advertising have led to a marked increase in the adoption of Ad-Blocking tools. We conduct a field experiment to study users’ valuation of Ad-Blockers, and to study how exposing or shielding users from online advertising influences their online experiences, their attitudes towards online advertising, their valuation of ad-blocking tools, and their future usage of such tools. We find that for users currently using an ad-blocker, uninstalling them leads to a deterioration in their online experiences and lower satisfaction with recent purchases. For users that were not using Ad-Blockers, installing one led to fewer reported regrets with purchases, an improvement in subjective well-being, and a less positive view of online advertising. In terms of users’ valuation of Ad-Blockers, we observe a great degree of heterogeneity. Some users are not willing to uninstall their Ad-Blocker even if offered large payments (> $100). Conversely, a similar number of users are not willing to install an Ad-Blocker even if offered large payments. However, most users are willing to install/uninstall an Ad-Blocker in exchange for moderate payments (< $20). Our experimental treatment has a large effect on future usage of Ad-Blockers. Participants that we ask to install an Ad-Blocker are much more likely to use Ad-Blocker after the experiment ends than comparable participants in the control group. However, not all this effect can be attributed to the benefits of Ad-Blocking, as we also observed that the participants that we asked to uninstall their Ad-Blocker are more likely to continue not-using an Ad-Blocker after the experiment ends …

The value that consumers derive from behavioral advertising has been more often posited than empirically demonstrated. The majority of empirical work in this area has focused on estimating the effectiveness of behaviorally targeted ads, measured in terms of click or conversion rates. We present the results of two online within-subject experiments (Study 1 and Study 2) that, instead, employ a counterfactual approach, designed to assess comparatively some of the consumer welfare implications of targeted behavioral advertising. Participants are presented with alternative product offers: products associated with ads displayed to them on websites that commonly show behaviorally targeted ads (ad condition); competing products from the organic results of online searches (search condition); and random products (random condition). The alternatives are compared along a variety of metrics, including objective measures (such as product price and vendor quality) and participants’ self-reports (such as purchase intention and product relevance). In Study 1 (n= 489) we find, first, that both ads and organic search results within our sample of participants are dominated by a minority of vendors; however, ads are more likely to present participants with smaller and less familiar vendors. Second, we find that purchase intentions are higher in the ad and the search conditions than in the random condition; the effect is driven by higher product relevance in the ad and search conditions; however, in absolute terms, product relevance is low even in the ad condition. Third, we find that ads are more likely to be associated with lower quality vendors, and higher prices …

Privacy scholars have long studied, and argued about, a so-called privacy paradox—the alleged gap between individuals' claims of caring about privacy and their actual behaviors. This manuscript explores whether a different type of mismatch occurs in an online sample of US participants: a mismatch between participants' dismissive perspectives on privacy and their privacy-protective behaviors. In a series of online studies with Prolific US participants we tackle two research questions: is there evidence of mismatches between (dismissive) privacy perspectives, and (protective) privacy behaviors? If so, what can explain those mismatches? In a Behavior Elicitation study, we collect a corpus of privacy-regulating and privacy-protective behaviors. Next, in Study 1, we find evidence that engagement in a broad array of privacy behaviors is, in fact, very common in our sample. We also find that mismatches between dismissive privacy perspectives and protective behaviors emerge in a large proportion of participants. Finally, in Study 2, we uncover several common but distinct reasons for those mismatches, including construing seemingly protective behaviors as motivated by reasons other than privacy, and nuanced stances on when to express privacy concern. Collectively, the results indicate that individuals who are seemingly dismissive of privacy concerns engage in behaviors that can be construed as privacy-seeking. The findings highlight the nuances of individual privacy decision-making and suggest that public policy related to privacy should account for the evidence for widespread privacy-seeking behaviors.

A pivotal apprehension surrounding the regulation of children’s privacy lies in its potential to diminish the provision of educational digital content. To inform public policymakers, we investigate in a difference-in-differences study the content provision consequences of Google’s 2020 ban on targeted advertising in child-directed educational YouTube videos, which ensued the settlement of COPPA violations on YouTube. We compare affected child-directed educational YouTube channels with educational YouTube channels not directed to children. Our comprehensive inquiry unearths a sweeping verdict: The ban substantially curtailed the provision of child-directed educational content on YouTube. On average, the ban led to a decline in the number of minutes of video content uploaded by 18.3%. The contraction encompassed channels of varying degrees of influence, including those with niche appeal, while also leaving no exemption for channels devoted to learners with special educational needs. Subsequent tests and interviews with creators substantiate the indispensable role of revenues from targeted advertising, while concurrently affirming that the ban precipitated the cessation of content provision. We also examine the demand-side consequences for continued channels. The perceived quality of child-directed videos deteriorated. However, learners who had subscribed to discontinued niche channels sought refuge in continued non-niche channels, a spillover that, surprisingly, brought about an overall upshot in demand. These findings advance our understanding of the downstream consequences of privacy regulation and confront public …

Seeking to close the gap between research and real-world applications of PPAs.

● Method: grounded theory (Charmaz, 2014) and thematic analysis● 1-hour semi-structured interviews, Sep. 2021–Jan. 2022 & Aug. 2023

We offer our thanks to the authors for their thoughtful comments. Cui, Gong, Hannig, and Hoffman propose a valuable improvement to our method of estimating lost entitlements due to data error. Because we don’t have access to the unknown, “true” number of children in poverty, our paper simulates data error by drawing counterfactual estimates from a normal distribution around the official, published poverty estimates, which we use to calculate lost entitlements relative to the official allocation of funds. But, if we make the more realistic assumption that the published estimates are themselves normally distributed around the “true” number of children in poverty, Cui et al.’s proposed framework allows us to reliably estimate lost entitlements relative to the unknown, ideal allocation of funds—what districts would have received if we knew the “true” number of children in poverty.

Browsing privacy tools can help people protect their digital privacy. However, tools which provide the strongest protections—such as Tor Browser—have struggled to achieve widespread adoption. This may be due to usability challenges, misconceptions, behavioral biases, or mere lack of awareness. In this study, we test the effectiveness of nudging interventions that encourage the adoption of Tor Browser. First, we test an informational nudge based on protection motivation theory (PMT), designed to raise awareness of Tor Browser and help participants form accurate perceptions of it. Next, we add an action planning implementation intention, designed to help participants identify opportunities for using Tor Browser. Finally, we add a coping planning implementation intention, designed to help participants overcome challenges to using Tor Browser, such as extreme website slowness. We test these nudges in a longitudinal field experiment with 537 participants. We find that our PMT-based intervention increased use of Tor Browser in both the short-and long-term. Our coping planning nudge also increased use of Tor Browser, but only in the week following our intervention. We did not find statistically significant evidence of our action planning nudge increasing use of Tor Browser. Our study contributes to a greater understanding of factors influencing the adoption of Tor Browser, and how nudges might be used to encourage the adoption of Tor Browser and similar privacy enhancing technologies.

We analyze the welfare implications of consumer data sharing, and restrictions to that sharing, in the context of online targeted advertising. Targeting technologies offer firms the ability to reach desired audiences through intermediary platforms. The platforms run auctions in real time to display ads on internet sites, leveraging consumers’ personal information collected online to personalize the ads. The online advertising industry posits that targeted advertising benefits advertising firms (that is, merchants who want to target ads to the desired consumers), consumers who see ads for preferred products, and the intermediary platforms that match consumers with firms. However, the claims that targeted advertising benefits all players involved have not been fully vetted in the literature. We develop an analytical model to analyze the economic and welfare implications of targeting technologies for those three players under …

Continued expansion of human activities into digital realms gives rise to concerns about digital privacy and its invasions, often expressed in terms of data rights and internet surveillance. It may thus be tempting to construe privacy as a modern phenomenon—something our ancestors lacked and technological innovation and urban growth made possible. Research from history, anthropology, and ethnography suggests otherwise. The evidence for peoples seeking to manage the boundaries of private and public spans time and space, social class, and degree of technological sophistication. Privacy—not merely hiding of data, but the selective opening and closing of the self to others—appears to be both culturally specific and culturally universal . But what could explain the simultaneous universality and diversity of a human drive for privacy? An account of the evolutionary roots of privacy may offer an answer and teach …

By allowing individuals to be permanently connected to the Internet, mobile devices ease the way information can be accessed and shared online, but also raise novel privacy challenges for end users. Recent behavioral research on "soft" or "asymmetric" paternalism has begun exploring ways of helping people make better decisions in different aspects of their lives. We apply that research to privacy decision making, investigating how soft paternalistic solutions (also known as nudges) may be used to counter cognitive biases and ameliorate privacy-sensitive behavior. We present the theoretical background of our research, and highlight current industry solutions and research endeavors that could be classified as nudging interventions. We then describe our ongoing work on embedding soft paternalistic mechanisms in location sharing technologies and Twitter privacy agentsPresented at the 2nd International Workshop on Persuasion, Nudge, Influence, and Coercion Through Mobile Devices, May 8, 2011, Vancouver, Canada

Online intermediation in legacy industries: The effect of reservation platforms on restaurants’ prices and survival Page 1 1 Online intermediation in legacy industries: The effect of reservation platforms on restaurants’ prices and survival BY CRISTOBAL CHEYRE AND ALESSANDRO ACQUISTI * Preliminary. Date of this draft: January 2022 We study the impact of increasing online intermediation in legacy industries. We motivate the empirical analysis with a duopoly model where an intermediary platform enables firms to attract consumers by offering them higher benefits. We show that firms adopt the platform even when they cannot expect benefits from joining, because as platform popularity rises, it extracts a growing proportion of the benefits it creates. The analysis focuses on restaurants’ adoption of OpenTable in New York City. Results support the model predictions of cost pass-through to consumers of fees charged …

While the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has received significant attention in economic research, concerns that it would adversely affect websites' ability to provide quality content to their visitors have not been thoroughly investigated. We construct a longitudinal data-set of news and media websites to study how online content providers adapted their responses to the GDPR over time, and whether restrictions on online tracking enforced by the regulation affected downstream outcomes such as the quantity of content those websites offer to their visitors and visitors' engagement with such content. We find robust evidence of websites' reactions to the GDPR in both the US and the EU, including an initial reduction in the number of third-party cookies and intensity of visitor tracking. However, reactions differ between US and EU websites, and several months after the enactment of the regulation the initial reduction in tracking is reversed, as tracking among EU websites bounces back. We use difference-in-differences, LATE, and look-ahead matching models to assess downstream effects of the regulation, capturing both ecosystem effects and website-level effects. We find a small reduction in average page views per visitor on EU websites relative to US websites near the end of the period of observation, but no statistically significant impact of the regulation on EU websites' provision of new content, social media engagement with new content, and ranking in both the short-term and the long-term. We also find no evidence of differences in survival rates across EU and US content providers, and no evidence that monetization strategies …