Inspired by a lecture at the renowned UC Berkeley and spurred by his interest in the intricate link between economics, privacy, and technology, Alessandro Acquisti initiated his own start-up. He brought forth a very witty concept that goes by the name of "privacy paradox".
This is where the audience were very much concerned about the security and privacy of the data they made available online but at the same time, they were not willing to pay to get that information secured in the web. At times, the public shared the material with unknown people, according to Wink News.
Inside The Privacy Paradox
Acquisti's work on privacy paradox brought together an interesting amalgam of experts at sciences and humanities who gathered under the roof of Massachusetts Institute of Technology to understand the relation between economics and privacy. Though Acquisiti's program "WISE" received a varied response, the general public started to see the correlation between privacy and economical value.
The Issues On Privacy And Public Awareness
Detailing on the increase in public awareness, talking to The Irish Times, Acquisti stated two main causes: the progress of social media networks and the improved understanding of the public as to how companies and governments benefit economically from personal information online. He carried out two definite experiments in this regard with his team. The first was the creation of various fake online profiles through which it was deduced that companies target and search a specific kind of audience. Secondly, facial images were used to aid them in processes which eventually led to finding out social security numbers.
Privacy Is An Old Notion
Acquissi further added that privacy is not a novel concept at all, but an ancient one, which is just being sophisticated and refined now. He believed that this sophistication has led to greater awareness and now people understand privacy and its relation to economics much clearly than before.
