Privacy Paradox: The Tug of War Between Privacy and Rights

In the early years of digital platforms, users were attracted by their freedom and openness and gave little concern about privacy issues  (Russell, 2024b). As digital platforms become an integral part of our daily lives, perceptions of privacy are beginning to change. Privacy has gradually evolved from a simple concept of “private spaces to practice personal activities “(Erica Longfellow, 2001) to a complex human right.

In recent years, the growing number of data breaches and misuse of personal information has increased privacy awareness (Joanne Hinds, 2020). The growth of digital platforms has brought privacy issues to the forefront of the Internet. Despite growing concerns about privacy breaches, people continue to use digital platforms in their daily activities – illustrating the complex privacy paradox. This blog explores the privacy paradox, the complex process by which individuals weigh the benefits of using digital platforms against potential privacy risks. By studying Tiktok’s case and the reasons behind the privacy paradox, we aim to allay users’ fears of using platforms and give them a clearer understanding of their digital rights.

Privacy Paradox 

Users use these platforms heavily while concerning privacy breaches. The mismatch between individuals’ desire for privacy and their actual behaviours is what we call the privacy paradox(Susanne Barth & Menno D.T. de Jong, 2017). The “privacy paradox” suggests that although Internet users are concerned about privacy breaches, this rarely translates into actual action (Taddicken, 2014).

Beresford et al. (2012) conducted an experiment. Participants were asked to purchase identical DVDs from one of two competing shops. the first shop asked for income and date of birth, and the second shop asked for favourite colour and year of birth. When prices were the same, the same participants purchased from both shops. When the price of the first shop was set 1 euro lower, almost all participants chose the cheaper shop, even though it asked for more personal information (Alastair R. Beresford & Dorothea Kübler, 2012). A privacy-related questionnaire was administered to the participants after the experiment. 75% of the participants indicated they were interested in privacy issues, and 95% indicated they were very interested. Beresford’s experiment is a good example of the privacy paradox. Users tend to share private information in exchange for commodity value and personalized services, even if they are aware of privacy risks (Barth & De Jong, 2017).

Users are willing to sacrifice

TikTok is currently one of the world’s most popular platforms, and Chinese company ByteDance owns it. TikTok has been scrutinized in several countries in recent years due to privacy issues and possible sharing of user data with the Chinese government. In March 2024, the United States enacted an Act restricting TikTok (Wikipedia contributors, 2024).

“TikTok’s popularity shows no signs of waning, even as some users voice concerns about the app’s potential threat .“

(Ivana Saric, 2023)

According to a new survey by the Pew Research Centre (a nonprofit think tank), more than 40% of Americans who believe TikTok brings a threat to national security are still using the app (Pew Research Center, 2023). For young consumers, they are afraid of missing out on the connections provided by TikTok (Ivana Saric, 2023). In the case of TikTok, users have recognized that their privacy is at risk but still choose to use the platform for social connection and entertainment value. This decision reflects a privacy trade-off, where users are thinking that the benefits of TikTok outweigh the privacy risks.

Why it happens？

This privacy paradox highlights a contradiction: our privacy concerns do not match our actions. Why do we continue to share personal information even as we worry about privacy breaches? Here are four reasons behind the privacy paradox：

• Irrational decision-making: Users do not always follow a rational decision-making process when exposing their individual information but are based on heuristics (i.e., simplified problems) (Alessandro Acquisti & Jens Grossklags, 2006). Humans have limited energy and cannot rationally assess all possible risks (Sakhhi Chhabra & Indian Institute of Managemen, n.d.)

• Cognitive bias: One of the common causes of the privacy paradox is individuals’ cognitive biases about themselves. It gave them unrealistic optimism. “Optimism bias is a cognitive bias that causes someone to believe that they are less likely to experience negative events (Wikipedia Contributor, 2023).” This overconfident behaviour leads people to overestimate the potential benefits and underestimate the risk of information breaches (Baek, Kim, and Bae, 2014).

“Why would anyone want to misuse my information, I’m not so important. What can happen to me as an individual?”

(The Privacy Paradox: Why Do People Share Their Data?, 2023c)

“According to the theory of contextual integrity (CI), privacy norms prescribe
information flows with reference to five parameters — sender, recipient,
subject, information type, and transmission principle“

（Helen Nissenbaum, 2019）

We can understand the privacy paradox through this theory. People think that the way that platforms process information is consistent with what they expect. In fact, the platform leaks and steals their information. This behaviour of the platform clearly violates contextual integrity because providing information to others would violate the principle of confidentiality in the transmission of information. Violations of contextual integrity lead to the privacy paradox.

We need referees: Coping with the privacy paradox

1. Legal Framework

An effective way to face the challenge of the privacy paradox is to develop a comprehensive legal framework. The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a comprehensive data protection law designed to protect the data privacy rights of all individuals within the European Union. The GDPR enacts a set of strict data processing principles. These principles ensure transparency in the platform’s data storage, processing, and transmission and give individuals more control over their data. Here are the GDPR’s principles related to personal data protection：

2. Empowering Users with Control

However, it is not enough to rely on legal provisions to resolve the privacy paradox; Increasing user control over privacy is equally important in this tug-of-war (Amiseq, 2024). Here are some simple steps: 

3. Emerging Technologies

The rise of blockchain technology offers a way to balance transparency and data protection. By using blockchain technology, data can be made publicly available without revealing personal information. Information is encrypted and dispersed throughout the network, providing high security and protection. Blockchain can prevent privacy breaches while complying with the GDPR governance of the platform (Md Mehedi Hassan Onik & Chul-Soo Kim, 2019). Here are three solutions：

Conclusion

Digital giants play the role of gatekeepers in the digital world (Flew, 2021), complying with laws and regulations and collaborating with different sectors to achieve co-governance. The privacy paradox is a complex issue. We need to find a balance between achieving its benefits and protecting our digital rights. Despite privacy issues, we are still willing to share our data due to trust, social habits, and technology(The Privacy Paradox: Why Do People Share Their Data?, 2023b). By understanding the reasons behind these issues and learning more about individuals’ digital rights, we can make better decisions about how we use our personal information.

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