Is everything under control? An experimental study on how control over data influences trust in and support for major governmental data exchange projects

The steep rise in the exchange of (citizen) data through government-wide platforms has triggered a demand for better privacy safeguards. One approach to privacy is to give citizens control over the exchange of personal data, hoping to reinforce trust in and support for data-driven governance. However, it remains unclear whether more control fulfils its promise of more support and higher trust. Using an online survey experiment, we study how 1) textual information on control and 2) direct control (simulated through an exercise in which respondents choose data types that can be shared) affect citizen trust, support and policy concerns. Results suggest that a combination of information on and direct control result in relatively high levels of trust, support and policy concern. Moreover, we observe an interaction effect in which those respondents with low pre-existing trust in government report more positive attitudes when assigned to the full intervention (information on control + direct control) group. Our results imply that perceived control may be especially useful to mitigate negative attitudes of those who have low trust in government.