The value of non-personally identifiable information to consumers of online services: evidence from a discrete choice experiment

ABSTRACT

We estimate the value of non-personally identifying information to consumers of online services through a discrete choice experiment based on hypothetical streaming video services. Non-personally identifying information for online services is typically information on the ways in and times at which customers use the service, and is distinct from personally identifying information such as email addresses or telephone numbers. For most of our survey respondents, we find no evidence that they were willing to pay to avoid sharing their non-personally identifying information with third parties. A smaller group of respondents never selected a service that shared information with third parties.

KEYWORDS:

• Privacy
• experiment
• mixed logit
• willingness to pay

JEL CLASSIFICATION:

• C25
• C93
• D12

Acknowledgments

We thank Kenneth Train for many helpful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.