The Economics of Privacy (2005) | Hacker News Reader

The Economics of Privacy (2005)

heinz.cmu.edu

64 pointsjstrieb5 comments

It's interesting how so many stores now have rewards systems. You can get $X off your purchase today if you sign up for this program so we can track you.

This is basically a system that makes people an offer to sell their privacy. I think it would be fascinating to look at statistics for how many people opt-out of these programs, and how much the annual cost of non-participation is for an ordinary lifestyle.

What is more interesting and much less monetized is buy-outs, I would pay a premium monthly for an opt-out of Twitters tracking of my account for instance. I know many people who say the same thing about Facebook, if these places switched to a simple Netflix model and allowed us to pay our way out of their tracking services I would pay the same amount advertisers pay for my info to keep it out of their hands.

I think the reason why they don't offer this is because it would probably come off as sounding 'randsom-y' or something.

Isn't this model already relatively heavily used? There are loads of apps that have a free ad supported version, but if you pay for it, all ads are removed.

They could spin it in a similar way:

Ad supported version is free. As part of this free service, you are tracked extensively to build a valuable profile for sale to ad companies.

By paying for the service, all ads and the associated tracking required to make your profile valuable to advertisers is disabled.

In this way, the tracking is spun as a necessary evil for the ad supported model to work.

This would probably require them to be pretty open about what sort of tracking is going on.

The problem I have with buy-outs is credibility and impact.

I've been burnt too many times by offers that claim to provide exemption from tracking which, in the end, don't. So rather than rely on the vendor, I'll apply blocking at my end, at systems under my control.

The other element is that some small, carved-out exception to tracking has, in the grander scheme, a minimal marginal impact. Again, by applying countermeasures within my own domain, I can have an effect across a wide range of threats, including those which are not offering the opt-out option.

The failure generally of advertising and marketing entities to take heed of expressed preferences ("do-not-track", repeated other refusals of requests for information, etc.) tends also to burn down any trust or credibility quite effectively.

"Dear Googles, Stop Asking":

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6745525

https://plus.google.com/104092656004159577193/posts/ayk2DF43...

https://encrypted.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22dear%20google...

I adhere to a strict policy of using other people's reward/member cards only, and even then only if there is an immediate discount that comes with it.

I'm there to buy food/utilitarian ditties to satisfy an immediate need. Not engage in a lifelong, lopsided bartering scheme.

Economists, MBAs, and "marketing" are this eras Popes, Priests, and "missionaries".

No thanks.

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