Online Shoppers will Pay for Privacy, Study Says

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University say consumers will pay a little bit more money per item they purchase online if they can be assured it will protect their privacy and keep their identities secure.

In an article on the New York Times’ website, Candace Lombardi says the Carnegie Mellon Usable Privacy and Security Lab (CUPS) monitored the habits of people ranging in age from 18 to 71 who were given money and instructed to buy certain items online while using the search engine PrivacyFinder.org.

“The researchers found that people were willing to pay about 60 cents more for each $15 item purchased to protect their privacy,” Lombardi says. “One of the items participants were instructed to buy was a sex toy, something they might be inclined to keep private. And subjects were also allowed to keep any money they saved.”

“There have been so many other studies saying that people do not care about privacy,” CUPS director Lorrie Cranor told Lombardi. “We confirmed our hypothesis that people do, in fact, care about privacy and will pay for it.”

To read the full article, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/cnet/CNET_2100-1029_3-6189380.html