Americans Cannot Consent to Companies’ Use of Their Data

Authors

  • Joseph Turow University of Pennsylvania
  • Ypthach Lelkes University of Pennsylvania
  • Nora A. Draper University of New Hampshire
  • Ari Ezra Waldman University of California Irvine

Keywords:

surveys, privacy, surveillance, marketing, advertising, policymaking, resignation

Abstract

Federal and state laws, as well as decisions from the Federal Trade Commission, require either implicit (“opt out”) or explicit (“opt in”) permission from individuals for companies to take and use data about them. Genuine opt-out and opt-in consent requires that people have knowledge about commercial data-extraction practices as well as a belief they can do something about them. This nationally representative fall 2022 survey of 2,014 adults in the U.S. shows that Americans have neither. We find that informed consent at scale is a myth, and we urge policymakers to act with that in mind.  

Author Biographies

Joseph Turow, University of Pennsylvania

Robert Lewis Shayon Professor of Communication of Media Systems and Industries at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania

Ypthach Lelkes, University of Pennsylvania

Associate Professor Communication, Annenberg School for Communication

Nora A. Draper, University of New Hampshire

Associate Professor of Communication in the Department of Communication, University of New Hampshire

Ari Ezra Waldman, University of California Irvine

Professor of Law at the University of California Irvine School of Law

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Published

2023-07-14

Issue

Vol. 17 (2023)

Section

Features

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