Index: Secondary Uses of Personal Data

By Alexandra Shaw, Andrew Zahuranec, Andrew Young, Stefaan Verhulst

The Living Library Index–inspired by the Harper’s Index–provides important statistics and highlights global trends in governance innovation. This installment focuses on public perceptions regarding secondary uses of personal data (or the re-use of data initially collected for a different purpose). It provides a summary of societal perspectives toward personal data usage, sharing, and control. It is not meant to be comprehensive–rather, it intends to illustrate conflicting, and often confusing, attitudes toward the re-use of personal data.

Please share any additional, illustrative statistics on data, or other issues at the nexus of technology and governance, with us at info@thelivinglib.org

Data ownership and control

Percentage of Americans who say it is “very important” they control information collected about them: 74% – 2016
Americans who think that today’s privacy laws are not good enough at protecting people’s privacy online: 68% – 2016
Americans who say they have “a lot” of control over how companies collect and use their information: 9% – 2015
In a survey of 507 online shoppers, the number of respondents who indicated they don’t want brands tracking their location: 62% – 2015
In a survey of 507 online shoppers, the amount who “prefer offers that are targeted to where they are and what they are doing:” 60% – 2015
Number of surveyed American consumers willing to provide data to corporations under the following conditions:
- “Data about my social concerns to better connect me with non-profit organizations that advance those causes:” 19% – 2018
- “Data about my DNA to help me uncover any hereditary illnesses:” 21% – 2018
- “Data about my interests and hobbies to receive relevant information and offers from online sellers:” 32% – 2018
- “Data about my location to help me find the fastest route to my destination:” 40% – 2018
- “My email address to receive exclusive offers from my favorite brands:” 56% – 2018

Consumer Attitudes

Academic study participants willing to donate personal data to research if it could lead to public good: 60% – 2014
Academic study participants willing to share personal data for research purposes in the interest of public good: 25% – 2014
Percentage who expect companies to “treat [them] like an individual, not as a member of some segment like ‘millennials’ or ‘suburban mothers:’” 74% – 2018
- Percentage who believe that brands should understand a “consumer’s individual situation (e.g. marital status, age, location, etc.)” when they’re being marketed to: 70% – 2018 Number who are “more annoyed” by companies now compared to 5 years ago: 40% – 2018Percentage worried their data is shared across companies without their permission: 88% – 2018Amount worried about a brand’s ability to track their behavior while on the brand’s website, app, or neither: 75% – 2018
Consumers globally who expect brands to anticipate needs before they arise: 33% – 2018
Surveyed residents of the United Kingdom who identify as:
- “Data pragmatists” willing to share personal data “under the right circumstances:” 58% – 2017
- “Fundamentalists,” who would not share personal data for better services: 24% – 2017
- Respondents who think data sharing is part of participating in the modern economy: 62% – 2018
- Respondents who believe that data sharing benefits enterprises more than consumers: 75% – 2018
- People who want more control over their data that enterprises collect: 84% – 2018
- Percentage “unconcerned” about personal data protection: 18% – 2018
Percentage of Americans who think that government should do more to regulate large technology companies: 55% – 2018
Registered American voters who trust broadband companies with personal data “a great deal” or “a fair amount”: 43% – 2017
Americans who report experiencing a major data breach: 64% – 2017
Number of Americans who believe that their personal data is less secure than it was 5 years ago: 49% – 2019
Amount of surveyed American citizens who consider trust in a company an important factor for sharing data: 54% – 2018

Convenience

Microsoft’s 2015 Consumer Data Value Exchange Report attempts to understand consumer attitudes on the exchange of personal data across the global markets of Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, Germany, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, United Kingdom and the United States. From their survey of 16,500 users, they find:

The most popular incentives for sharing data are:
- Cash rewards: 64% – 2015
- Significant discounts: 49% – 2015
- Streamlined processes: 29% – 2015
- New ideas: 28% – 2015
Respondents who would prefer to see more ads to get new services: 34% – 2015
Respondents willing to share search terms for a service that enabled fewer steps to get things done: 70% – 2015
Respondents willing to share activity data for such an improvement: 82% – 2015
Respondents willing to share their gender for “a service that inspires something new based on others like them:” 79% – 2015

A 2015 Pew Research Center survey presented Americans with several data-sharing scenarios related to convenience. Participants could respond: “acceptable,” “it depends,” or “not acceptable” to the following scenarios:

Share health information to get access to personal health records and arrange appointments more easily:
- Acceptable: 52% – 2015
- It depends: 20% – 2015
- Not acceptable: 26% – 2015
Share data for discounted auto insurance rates:
- Acceptable: 37% – 2015
- It depends: 16% – 2015
- Not acceptable: 45% – 2015
Share data for free social media services:
- Acceptable: 33% – 2015
- It depends: 15% – 2015
- Not acceptable: 51% – 2015
Share data on smart thermostats for cheaper energy bills:
- Acceptable: 33% – 2015
- It depends: 15% – 2015
- Not acceptable: 51% – 2015

Other Studies

Surveyed banking and insurance customers who would exchange personal data for:
- Targeted auto insurance premiums: 64% – 2019
- Better life insurance premiums for healthy lifestyle choices: 52% – 2019
Surveyed banking and insurance customers willing to share data specifically related to income, location and lifestyle habits to:
- Secure faster loan approvals: 81.3% – 2019
- Lower the chances of injury or loss: 79.7% – 2019
- Receive discounts on non-insurance products or services: 74.6% – 2019
- Receive text alerts related to banking account activity: 59.8% – 2019
- Get saving advice based on spending patterns: 56.6% – 2019
In a survey of over 7,000 members of the public around the globe, respondents indicated:
- They thought “smartphone and tablet apps used for navigation, chat, and news that can access your contacts, photos, and browsing history” is “creepy;” 16% – 2016
- Emailing a friend about a trip to Paris and receiving advertisements for hotels, restaurants and excursions in Paris is “creepy:” 32% – 2016
- A free fitness-tracking device that monitors your well-being and sends a monthly report to you and your employer is “creepy:” 45% – 2016
- A telematics device that allows emergency services to track your vehicle is “creepy:” 78% – 2016
The number of British residents who do not want to work with virtual agents of any kind: 48% – 2017
Americans who disagree that “if companies give me a discount, it is a fair exchange for them to collect information about me without my knowing”: 91% – 2015

Data Brokers, Intermediaries, and Third Parties

Americans who consider it acceptable for a grocery store to offer a free loyalty card in exchange for selling their shopping data to third parties: 47% – 2016
Number of people who know that “searches, site visits and purchases” are reviewed without consent: 55% – 2015
The number of people in 1991 who wanted companies to ask them for permission first before collecting their personal information and selling that data to intermediaries: 93% – 1991
- Number of Americans who “would be very concerned if the company at which their data were stored sold it to another party:” 90% – 2008
- Percentage of Americans who think it’s unacceptable for their grocery store to share their shopping data with third parties in exchange for a free loyalty card: 32% – 2016
Percentage of Americans who think that government needs to do more to regulate advertisers: 64% – 2016
- Number of Americans who “want to have control over what marketers can learn about” them online: 84% – 2015
- Percentage of Americans who think they have no power over marketers to figure out what they’re learning about them: 58% – 2015
Registered American voters who are “somewhat uncomfortable” or “very uncomfortable” with companies like Internet service providers or websites using personal data to recommend stories, articles, or videos: 56% – 2017
Registered American voters who are “somewhat uncomfortable” or “very uncomfortable” with companies like Internet service providers or websites selling their personal information to third parties for advertising purposes: 64% – 2017

Personal Health Data

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s 2014 Health Data Exploration Project Report analyzes attitudes about personal health data (PHD). PHD is self-tracking data related to health that is traceable through wearable devices and sensors. The three major stakeholder groups involved in using PHD for public good are users, companies that track the users’ data, and researchers.

Overall Respondents:
- Percentage who believe anonymity is “very” or “extremely” important: 67% – 2014
- Percentage who “probably would” or “definitely would” share their personal data with researchers: 78% – 2014
- Percentage who believe that they own—or should own—all the data about them, even when it is indirectly collected: 54% – 2014
- Percentage who think they share or ought to share ownership with the company: 30% – 2014
- Percentage who think companies alone own or should own all the data about them: 4% – 2014
- Percentage for whom data ownership “is not something I care about”: 13% – 2014
- Percentage who indicated they wanted to own their data: 75% – 2014
- Percentage who would share data only if “privacy were assured:” 68% – 2014
- People who would supply data regardless of privacy or compensation: 27% – 2014
  - Percentage of participants who mentioned privacy, anonymity, or confidentiality when asked under what conditions they would share their data: 63% – 2014
  - Percentage who would be “more” or “much more” likely to share data for compensation: 56% – 2014
  - Percentage who indicated compensation would make no difference: 38% – 2014
  - Amount opposed to commercial or profit-making use of their data: 13% – 2014
- Percentage of people who would only share personal health data with a guarantee of:
  - Privacy: 57% – 2014
  - Anonymization: 90% – 2014

Surveyed Researchers:
- Percentage who agree or strongly agree that self-tracking data would help provide more insights in their research: 89% – 2014
- Percentage who say PHD could answer questions that other data sources could not: 95% – 2014
- Percentage who have used public datasets: 57% – 2014
- Percentage who have paid for data for research: 19% – 2014
- Percentage who have used self-tracking data before for research purposes: 46% – 2014
- Percentage who have worked with application, device, or social media companies: 23% – 2014
- Percentage who “somewhat disagree” or “strongly disagree” there are barriers that cannot be overcome to using self-tracking data in their research: 82% – 2014