For those with an analytical mind, one of the most persistent questions is why people who are concerned about their privacy on the Internet continue using services they know will abuse them? Why aren’t more people taking action to protect their data and their privacy on the Internet? Why do we all keep using the “Frightful 5” even when we know they will likely resell the data they collect from our Internet usage patterns? In this thoughtful essay, MondayNote shows some hard research that indicates the reason that so many of us seem willing to give away our privacy on the Internet is the underlying economics. This is a recommended read but to summarize, it is what we all expected: the “costs” of sharing our private data on the Internet are diffuse and ill-defined; the benefits are immediate, gratifying, and easily consumed.
