How Personal Is Personal Information? Data-Driven Policymaking for Targeted Online Advertising

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session I
  In Paper Session: Communication Law and Policy Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

How personal is personal information? This paper considers personal information (PI) in the context of marketing—one of the largest stakeholders and constituents of PI. The results from an empirical contribution are reviewed, aimed at moving the debate over PI away from its usual starting point of abstract conceptualizations and towards a more grounded discussion. Various types of PI are used for targeting online ads at specific viewers who have been categorized according to this information (such as highest grade level completed and annual income). We offer insights by from examining PI as it is actually traded between companies and made available for marketing purposes.

Authors

• Darren M. Stevenson, University of Michigan

• Christian Sandvig, U of Michigan, Ann Arbor