Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/235296 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 8926
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
When using digital devices and services, individuals provide their personal data to organizations in exchange for gains in various domains of life. Organizations use these data to run technologies such as smart assistants, augmented reality, and robotics. Most often, these organizations seek to make a profit. Individuals can, however, also provide personal data to public databases that enable nonprofit organizations to promote social welfare if sufficient data are contributed. Regulators have therefore called for efficient ways to help the public collectively benefit from its own data. By implementing an online experiment among 1,696 US citizens, we find that individuals would donate their data even when at risk of getting leaked. The willingness to provide personal data depends on the risk level of a data leak but not on a realistic impact of the data on social welfare. Individuals are less willing to donate their data to the private industry than to academia or the government. Finally, individuals are not sensitive to whether the data are processed by a human-supervised or a self-learning smart assistant.
Subjects: 
data philanthropy
sustainable development
decision-making
privacy
environmental protection
public health
JEL: 
C71
H41
I18
O35
Q56
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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