The BBVA Foundation will fund a LINEEX project aiming to find a solution to the lack of privacy in the internet

December 15, 2017 I

The grants to research projects of the call Ayudas a Equipos de Investigación Científica Economía y Sociedad Digital 2017 respond to the commitment of the BBVA Foundation with the promotion of scientific research in different areas and its projection to society, as a way to extend the individual and collective opportunities and an effective approach to the main challenges of the 21st century.

The project PRIVED: Privacy and Digital Economics. An experimental challenge” was selected from a total of 104 proposals from universities and research centers throughout Spain.

The objective of this project is to study the mechanisms of revelation of preferences of digital users so that they obtain what they want without violating their privacy.

The digitalization of society and the popularization of smartphones have transformed economic and social relations. Furthermore they have raised the problem of user privacy while browsing. Users’ information can be used to provide personalized service but also It can compromise privacy. Researchers of this project consider that theoretical models, such as cookie legislation, do not solve this problem and the solution is not to eliminate personalized services but to improve the mechanisms of disclosure of preferences. To achieve this, PRIVED proposes an innovative strategy for the user to actively, voluntarily and consciously reveal his profile and preferences, without leaving the capture of sensitive information in the hands of third parties. The results of the project could open a big window in the field of digital marketing that would see how users define their profile and their willingness to receive certain information. In addition, it could be an opportunity for the legislator to provide a mechanism to integrate the protection of the privacy of citizens with the lawful search for business opportunities for companies. The project will be developed in the next 24 months.

PRINCIPAL RESEARCHER

Penélope Hernández Rojas, director of the Laboratory for Research in Behaevioural Experimental Economics

RESEARCH TEAM

Antonio José Morales Siles, Universidad de Málaga; Zvika Neeman, Tel Aviv University; José Manuel Pavía Miralles y Adriana Alventosa Baños, Universidad de Valencia.

Check the project summary

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