The Impact of Privacy Laws on Websites and Users

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• Publisher: Cuvillier Verlag
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN:
  9783736966017
• Print ISBN:
  9783736976016
• Edition: 1

Policymakers worldwide draft privacy laws to increase user privacy by imposing strict legal requirements. At the same time, policymakers grant websites a degree of freedom in implementing these requirements. However, the effects of privacy laws and the granted implementation freedom on websites and users remain unclear. Yet, when drafting privacy laws, policymakers need to trade-off between increasing user privacy and limiting the harm to websites' ability to earn revenue with the collected user data. Similarly, websites need to anticipate such effects, e.g., on their revenues, when deciding how to implement privacy laws. This dissertation encompasses three articles to shed light on the effects of privacy laws and their granted implementation freedom on websites' revenues and user privacy, using the enforcement of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The articles show that while the GDPR has average negative effects on websites' revenues, these effects vary across websites' chosen implementation of GPDR. The dissertation further shows that the different implementations of the legal requirements impact user privacy. Thereby, this dissertation provides an empirical foundation of privacy laws' effects on websites' revenues and user privacy, aiding policymakers in evaluating or drafting privacy laws and websites in deciding how to implement them.

Table of contents

• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• List of Abbreviations
• 0 Synopsis
• 0.1 Introduction
• 0.2 Aim and Structure of Dissertation
• 0.3 Summary and Results of Articles
• 0.4 Implications of Results
• 0.5 References
• 1 The Impact of Privacy Laws on Online User Behavior
• 1.1 Introduction
• 1.2 Knowledge on Effects of Privacy Changes on Online User Behavior
• 1.3 Description of Empirical Study
• 1.4 Results of Empirical Study
• 1.5 Discussion
• 1.6 Analysis of GDPR’s Economic Effect on Websites
• 1.7 Concluding Remarks
• 1.8 References
• 1.9 Appendix
• 2 Choose Wisely: The Impact of Consent Banner Designson Consent Rates
• 2.1 Introduction
• 2.2 User Decision Behavior on Consent Banners
• 2.3 Description of Empirical Study
• 2.4 Results of Consent Banner Design Variations
• 2.5 Summary and Implications of Results
• 2.6 Conclusion and Limitations
• 2.7 References
• 2.8 Appendix
• 3 The Illusion of Control: Control and Convenience onConsent Banners
• 3.1 Introduction
• 3.2 Previous Findings on Consent Banners’ Control and Convenience
• 3.3 Evaluation and Description of Consent Banners’ Control
• 3.4 Evaluation and Description of Consent Banners’ Convenience
• 3.5 Determination and Description of Consent Banner Designs
• 3.6 Evaluation of Consent Banners’ Control and Convenience
• 3.7 Conclusion
• 3.8 References
• 3.9 Appendix
• Curriculum Vitae