A key characteristic of cyberspace is the collection of large amounts of data, and people's privacy becomes vulnerable given the hyper-connectivity of cyberspace and the ease of accessing data. This project aims to enhance the safety and trustworthiness of cyberspace by designing choice architecture interventions informed by the neural processes underlying privacy to help people make better decisions about their privacy in cyberspace. Choice architecture is gaining popularity among academics and policy makers as a means to design the presentation of options to promote decisions that benefit both individuals and society. This project aims to uncover the neural correlates of privacy concerns to identify the cognitive and emotional processes that guide privacy behaviors in cyberspace. By using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to characterize the neural processes underlying privacy, this project aims to expand the toolbox of privacy researchers by introducing new theories and methods from neuroscience. By investigating the neural correlates of privacy concerns, this project seeks to inform future choice architecture interventions to encourage people to protect their privacy. Results will be disseminated broadly through conferences across several disciplines. Special focus will be given on disseminating findings beyond academics to non-research audiences, especially with respect to informing policy. Finally, this project aims to advance research and teaching at Temple University by providing a mentoring environment for students at all levels, including under-represented groups, to study privacy in cyberspace. Privacy concerns are unintended consequences of the Internet that prevent a safe and trustworthy cyberspace. There is a tradeoff between privacy risks associated with disclosing private information and the benefits from such disclosure (termed "privacy calculus"). Moreover, the "privacy paradox" states that although people self-report that privacy is critical to them, they often disclose more private information online, inconsistent with their privacy concerns. However, the neural processes that underlie people's decisions to protect their privacy are unclear. This project breaks new ground in privacy research by uncovering the neural correlates of privacy concerns with fMRI and using these insights to design choice architecture interventions to protect people's privacy in cyberspace. Specifically, it examines the neural processes underlying privacy concerns to help people better balance their privacy risks versus disclosure benefits in their privacy calculus to overcome the privacy paradox. This project will characterize the psychological processes that guide people's decisions to disclose their private information by identifying the neural correlates of privacy concerns with fMRI. This work will inform choice architecture interventions to encourage people to make decisions about their privacy in cyberspace to better match their privacy concerns.
SBE: Small: Protecting Privacy in Cyberspace: From Neuroscience Investigations to Behavioral Interventions