The privacy paradox: The privacy benefits of privacy threats [pdf]
brookings.edu
brookings.edu
Much of what privacy advocates focus on in terms of privacy violations on the internet neglect to take into account privacy gains from those same technologies. A key factor to this is focusing on what information is being shared but neglecting to account who it is being shared with and the privacy benefits associated with interacting with that service instead of traditional alternatives. For example, Google can see every search a person conducts regarding their sexual preferences. However, a closeted homosexual might turn to Google to find social and support groups because they're afraid of judgement from their family and peers. Groups like the EFF would say that buying a book through a Kindle is awful for the privacy of the reader because Amazon tracks the fact that you specifically bought the book and can see when you're reading it and even what page you're on - but most readers don't care that Amazon knows they're reading 50 Shades of Grey; they'd rather that everyone else on the subway just sees them reading their Kindle instead of an erotic novel paperback.
In general, people are more afraid of having their sensitive personal details disclosed to the people they interact with in person - their families, friends, coworkers or even the checkout lady at the pharmacy. The loss of privacy to a remote party like Google is worth the net gain in privacy to avoid disclosing embarrassing information to people they are more concerned with. This is also dependent on the type information being disclosed - the set of information that you'd want to keep from your friends is not the same set that you'd want to keep from your spouse, which is not the same as what you'd keep from your coworkers, which is not the same as what you'd hide from the police.
For those that would prefer an audio version, Ben Wittes gives a good discussion of it on the Lawfare Podcast at http://traffic.libsyn.com/lawfare/Episode_129.mp3
Most readers don't know the extend Amazon is tracking what they read, and often believe the relationship ended after the exchange of money and ebook. The tech industry's presumption that people don't care or are ok with stuff like Amazon knowing what page you're on is a projection of what they want popular opinion to be. In fact, a common reaction to learning how these surveillance-as-a-business-model ;goods and services actually work is that people tend to care very strongly about this kind of violation of their privacy, but feel powerless and trapped with non alternative. Very few people I have met see trading privacy for something as a good thing. Instead, what I often hear are regular complaints about companies asking for more and more information.
I do agree there the distance of personal association affect this, where it is often easier to allow a distant 3rd party to know important private information, probably due to not having to interact with the them afterwords. (i.e. someone may not care if some random stranger they are unlikely to interact with in the future knows their sexual orientation, but friends or family you are going to interact with regularly finding out could have consequences.
I am of the right gender and generation, but not a consumer. I am fed up with the trope that pretty much everyone uses or has used pornography. Not trying to demonstrate something worthy about myself (good luck to porn users). Rather, I dislike being defaulted into groups where I don't actually belong. And suspect that I am in less of a minority than some would have us believe. Perhaps non-consumers of porn really are such a big outlier, I've never checked the stats. However, I am aware that people who use this trope may incorrectly and infuriatingly discount such protestations with a wink and a nudge.