Introducing IntAct
A Busara — CSBC Collaboration
By James Vancel, Pooja Haldea, and Pavan Mamidi
We are excited to launch a joint research initiative with support from the Omidyar Network. This is part of a broader collaboration between Busara and the Center for Social Behaviour Change, The program, branded IntAct aims to understand behavioural factors to building a stronger data privacy environment.
Data Privacy as a Behavioural Challenge
Data privacy is a global issue in an increasingly connected world. Recent research has shown that data sharing preferences are highly malleable based on context and subject to certain behavioural biases. Willingness to share information can be influenced by elements as simple as the ordering of questions or how indirect invasive questions are framed. There is growing evidence that the standard toolkit for policy-makers, mandatory disclosure, has produced limited results in ensuring consumers are sufficiently protected.
As a result, researchers have begun to view data privacy preferences through a lens of behavioural economics, classifying behaviours based on understanding systematic biases in judgment and decision-making. For example, the endowment effect, a behavioural economics principle that explains wide gulfs in valuation among sellers and buyers of an asset, may similarly apply to how users view their data.
In one experiment by Acquisti, John, and Lowenstein, users were offered a $10 voucher at a nearby retailer for participating in a short survey. Following the initial voucher, they were then offered an additional $2 for allowing the researchers to connect their transaction data from the voucher to their survey responses. However, first they were randomised into two groups:
- In the first group, they were given the reward as a $12 voucher, with the option to reduce the voucher amount by $2 to not have their purchase data linked
- In the second group, they were given the reward as a $10 voucher, with the option to receive an additional $2 on their voucher in exchange for allowing their data to be connected.
In both scenarios the respondents were offered an exchange of $2 for data sharing. However, by changing the framing of who starts with the data, there was a dramatic change in willingness to share.
Our Approach
This type of research highlights the relevance of a behavioural science approach to data privacy. Most research to date has been done among Western subjects, often students, limiting their relevance to developing markets.
This collaboration between Busara and the Center for Social Behaviour Change will contribute to the body of research with a particular focus on informing policy in India and Kenya. The aim is to design a set of lab and field experiments that focus on two primary research questions:
- Can certain nudges prompt more privacy conscious decision-making among consumers?
- How and when can data privacy be made as a business advantage for firms?
Experiment designs are underway, and we are always looking for new partners among industry, policymakers and academia, so please reach out to us on Twitter or Linkedin if you are interested in learning more.
We expect preliminary results at the end of 2019, so stay tuned!
Follow us on Twitter @IntAct_Privacy
