'You must not know about me' - On the willingness to share personal data

Although understanding preferences for privacy is of great
importance to economists, businesses and politicians little is
known about the factors that shape the individual willingness to
share personal data. This article provides three experimental
studies with a total of 470 participants that help characterizing
individual preferences for sharing personal data varying the
characteristics of potential recipients. We find that participants’
willingness to share personal data with anonymous recipients
decreases with the number of recipients. However, social distance
to the recipients and the extent of personal data a single
recipient receives do not decrease the willingness to share
personal data. Further, we provide a methodological insight by
showing that verification of personal data is essential when
eliciting privacy preferences.