Report: 47% of Americans will share data for discounts, but 32% won't

By Daphne Howland | January 19, 2016

Dive Brief:

• Less than half (47%) of Americans say they find the trade-off of sharing their data for discounts via retail loyalty programs acceptable, while nearly a third (32%) say that it’s not, according to a new study about privacy and information sharing by the Pew Research Center.
• But even many of those comfortable with that basic trade-off are wary of where their data may end up, and of retailers that turn around and sell their information to third parties, the study found.
• Older Americans and those with higher incomes were less likely to find such trade-offs acceptable, according to the poll of 461 U.S. adults plus nine online focus groups of 80 people that included more open-ended questions and answers.

Dive Insight:

Privacy advocates are working hard to gauge the level of comfort Americans have about their data security, and retailers may want to pay attention to the results.

At a “PrivacyCon” event last week in Washington, DC, held by the Federal Trade Commission, a group of privacy experts presented a separate report from the Pew study that showed Americans to be less comfortable with trading their data for discounts than retailers may believe, AdAge reports. In that report, 57% said they are “resigned” to the idea of having to give up data for discounts, while 32% actively support it.

"By misrepresenting the American people and championing the tradeoff argument, marketers give policymakers false justifications for allowing the collection and use of all kinds of consumer data often in ways that the public find objectionable," according to the report, entitled “The Trade-off Fallacy: How Marketers Are Misrepresenting American Consumers And Opening Them Up to Exploitation.”

According to the research, Americans are most disturbed by the idea of third parties gaining control of their data, presumably parties that never participated in a trade with the consumer directly. Judging by shoppers’ comments from Pew’s open-ended research, people appear to believe it’s unfair, out of control, or both.

“Third party selling is not acceptable,” said one respondent to Pew. “If I want one company to have my information, that’s my choice, but not a bunch of other random companies.