Bargaining for Your Privacy in the Information Age: Systematic Factors Undermining the Equity of User-Company Online Information Transactions

Consumer privacy and protection of personal information are among the forefront of emerging complex social issues in the internet age. This growing threat to consumers' safety and security is framed as a systemic problem of structural inequality, specifically one where consumers are situated in positions of inferior bargaining power compared to the online service providers they engage in personal information transactions with. We propose a host of vestigial societal factors interacting with the turbulently transitional information-based economy, including outdated legal and economic regulations as well as cognitive limitations and cultural preferences among public users, reinforce and exacerbate these inequitable consumer-company relationships. Potential implications on future policy, social changes and directions for future research are discussed.