Opting opt-in or out? How defaults affect data protective behaviors

In societal and academic debate, privacy by design and individual control have become important topics of interest. This study emphasizes the importance of privacy by design, by demonstrating that default settings affect the extent to which individuals take ownership over their data. Specifically, it is demonstrated that privacy by default in the form of opt-in choice design increases the extent to which individuals value their data (Study 1), the extent to which they experience ownership of their data (Study 2), and the degree to which they actually protect their data (Study 2). By doing so, this study provides an important first step in demonstrating that granting individuals more control over their data by default affects the way they think about their data, and helps them further in taking control. This work also provides a theoretical contribution by demonstrating that endowing individuals with privacy by default results in enhanced experiences of ownership. Hence, this work demonstrates that Psychological Ownership is at least partly responsible for the endowment effect in this specific context.