The Viability of Removing Personal Information from Online White Page Directories: Are Consumer Perceptions Aligned with Reality?

This research undertakes two related studies to investigate the difficulties faced and costs incurred by consumers in order to remove information about themselves from online white page directories. These directories contain an aggregate of personal information and create threats to consumers by allotting easy access. A survey study examines consumer awareness of these online directories and expectations of opt-out procedures. A field study tracks attempts at actual information removal for twenty volunteers to provide a real-world assessment of the effectiveness of current opt-out mechanisms. The results reveal a dramatic misalignment between consumer expectations and the reality of current opt-out practices. The results highlight the costs and difficulties associated with opt-outs and bring the validity of these mechanisms into question. ********** Advancing database technologies have increased the opportunity for businesses to acquire, use, and disseminate customer information (Miceli, Ricotta, and Costabile 2007; Nehf 2007; Youn 2009). Although the permissive use of customer information has benefits for improving buyer-seller relationships (Stanaland, Lwin, and Leong 2009), these benefits must be weighed against privacy abuses associated with unauthorized access to personal information stored in proprietary and commercial databases (Kachhi and Link 2009; Milne, Bahl, and Rohm 2008; Norberg, Horne, and Horne 2009). At the extreme, the unauthorized and illegal use of personal information in the form of identity theft, phishing scams, and database piracy has focused considerable attention on the information privacy debate and the financial and psychological consequences associated with this misuse (Federal Trade Commission 2007; Peltier, Milne, and Phelps 2009; Rotfeld 2009). While consumers are increasingly apprehensive regarding illegal access to information about themselves (Federal Trade Commission 2007; Peltier, Milne, and Phelps 2009; Rotfeld 2009), they are equally concerned about the unauthorized secondary disclosure of their personal dossiers on the commercial market (Culnan 1993; Foxman and Kilcoyne 1993; Sayre and Horne 2000). Unauthorized secondary disclosure occurs when consumer information is shared with other marketers without their knowledge or consent (D'Souza and Phelps 2009). Yet, even when consumers are aware of potential data-sharing arrangements, they often lack sufficient efficacy and knowledge of the mechanisms through which they can control and protect their personal dossiers (LaRose and Rifon 2007; Milne, Labrecque, and Cromer 2009; Peltier, Milne, and Phelps 2009; Peltier et al. 2010; Rifon, LaRose, and Choi 2005). Despite this lack of understanding, recent research suggests that consumer concern over secondary use of their personal information is reduced when they are allowed some control over its use, and specifically in instances where they have the ability to remove their personal information in order to safeguard against future disclosures (Youn 2009). Currently, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) endorses industry self-regulation and has defined a set of privacy rules to protect consumer information that are based on Fair Information Principles (FTC 2007). To adhere to these principles, marketers must offer opt-in or opt-out mechanisms in which consumers explicitly give permission for marketers to use and collect their data (opt-in) or revoke permission (opt-out), oftentimes after the fact. While research has established that most companies are offering opt-out options as part of their privacy policies (Culnan 2000; Milne and Culnan 2002), there has been no investigation of whether such opt-out mechanisms are working sufficiently to protect consumers' data management rights. Within the data-sharing arena, online white page directories--searchable databases of personal information--offer an interesting context to examine the effectiveness and compliance of opt-out mechanisms. …