Study: While Consumers Want Sites Like Facebook And Google To Collect Less Data, Few Want To Pay For Privacy

A recent study by the Center For Data Innovation explored consumers' attitudes about online privacy. One of the primary findings:

"... when potential tradeoffs were not part of the question approximately 80 percent of Americans agreed that they would like online services such as Facebook and Google to collect less of their data..."

So, most survey participants want more online privacy as defined by less data collected about them. That is good news, right? Maybe. The researchers dug deeper to understand survey participants' views about "tradeoffs" - various ways of paying for online privacy. It found that support for more privacy (e.g., less data collected):

"... eroded when respondents considered these tradeoffs... [support] dropped by 6 percentage points when respondents were asked whether they would like online services to collect less data even if it means seeing ads that are less useful. Support dropped by 27 percentage points when respondents considered whether they would like less data collection even if it means seeing more ads than before. And it dropped by 26 percentage points when respondents were asked whether they would like less data collection even if it means losing access to some features they use now."

So, support for more privacy fell if irrelevant ads, more ads, and/or fewer features were the consequences. There is more:

"The largest drop in support (53 percentage points) came when respondents were asked whether they would like online services to collect less of their data even if it means paying a monthly subscription fee."

This led to a second major finding:

"Only one in four Americans want online services such as Facebook and Google to collect less of their data if it means they would have to start paying a monthly subscription fee..."

So, most want privacy but few are willing to pay for it. This is probably reassuring news for executives in a variety of industries (e.g., social media, tech companies, device manufacturers, etc.) to keep doing what they are doing: massive data collection of consumers' data via sites, mobile apps, partnerships, and however else they can get it.

Next, the survey asked participants if they would accept more data collection if that provided more benefits:

"... approximately 74 percent of Americans opposed having online services such as Google and Facebook collect more of their data. But that opposition decreased by 11 percentage points... if it means seeing ads that are more useful. It dropped by 17 percentage points... if it means seeing fewer ads than before and... if it means getting access to new features they would use. The largest decrease in opposition (18 percentage points) came... if it means getting more free apps and services..."

So, while most consumers want online privacy, they can be easily persuaded to abandon their positions with promises of more benefits. The survey included a national online poll of 3,240 U.S. adult Internet users. It was conducted December 13 - 16, 2018.

What to make of these survey results? Americans are fickle and lazy. We say we want online privacy, but few are willing to pay for it. While nothing in life is free, few consumers seem to realize that this advice applies to online privacy, too. Plus, consumers seem to highly value convenience regardless of the consequences.

What do you think?