Abstract

Privacy is a complex decision problem resulting in opinions, attitudes, and behaviors that differ substantially from one individual to another. Subjective perceptions of threats and potential damages, psychological needs, and actual personal economic returns all play a role in affecting our decisions to protect or to share personal information. Thus, inconsistencies or even contradictions emerge in individual behavior: Sometimes we feel entitled to protection of information about ourselves that we do not control. At other times we end up trading away that same information for small rewards. [...] In this chapter, we present an overview of those difficulties, and highlight how research on behavioral economics may improve our understanding of individuals' everyday privacy behavior.