Why People Are (Un)willing to Share Information with Online Advertisers

Online advertisers track Internet users’ activities to deliver relevant ads. To study how dierent online advertisers’ data practices aect users’ comfort with sharing their information, we conducted a 1,882-participant between-subjects online study. We asked participants about their comfort with sharing commonly collected types of information in scenarios with varying data practices, and studied their reactions to a realistic example of a behavioral prole created by advertisers about users. We found that participants’ willingness to share information with online advertisers is not only based on the sensitivity of the information, but also on the scope of collection and use, perceived necessity of collection, and perceived benets or harms of disclosing specic data types. Qualitative data analysis revealed nuanced and contextualized reasons behind stated information-sharing preferences. Participants were particularly adverse to sharing information that they perceived as irrelevant for advertising. However, our results also reveal that, under the right circumstances, participants may be willing to share their data with advertisers to enhance the utility of shown ads.