Abstract

Towards an Optimal Digital Infrastructure, Rip Sohan

In this talk I will summarise the work of the Optimal Digital Infrastructure theme in the Computing For The Future Of the Planet research programme to-date. I will also outline some interesting avenues for future work.

Web sites’ differentiation on data collection, Sören Preibusch

Whilst the majority of online users do not seem to take the privacy characteristics of goods and services into account when making consumption choices, a sizeable proportion consider differences in data collection and processing amongst alternative suppliers. In a self-regulating, privacy-aware marketplace, companies would vary their privacy regimes to gainfully meet consumers’ heterogeneous privacy preferences. Based on an empirical Web site evaluation, this work-in-progress talk considers the practices of electronic retailers and non-payable online services across four industries: (1) can privacy-conscious consumers find a privacy-friendly seller/provider? (2) is this alternative associated with a price premium? The empirical evidence is found to follow the predictions of the economic model of horizontal differentiation.