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20 Hours a Month Reading Privacy Policies

Posted by kdawson on from the half-the-bailout-every-year dept.

Barence sends word of research out of Carnegie Mellon University calling for changes in the way Web sites present privacy policies. The researchers, one of whom is an EFF board member, calculated how long it would take the average user to read through the privacy policies of the sites visited in a year. The answer: 200 hours, at a hypothetical cost to the US economy of $365 billion, more than half the financial bailout package. Every year. The researchers propose that, if the industry can't make privacy policies easier to read or skim, then federal intervention may be needed. This resulted in the predictable cry of outrage from online executives. Here's the study (PDF).

9 of 161 comments (clear)

  1. Solution: Standardized policies by crow · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If there were a few standardized policies that most sites used, then users wouldn't need to read them. Like with software licenses, you don't bother to read the GPL for each time you install software that uses that license.

    1. Re:Solution: Standardized policies by truthsearch · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Creative Commons puts out a variety of licenses that have a simple (human readable) version and a complete (legal) version. A logo or link on a site makes it immediately clear which license is being used. The exact same formula would probably work quite well for privacy policies.

      --
      Developers: We can use your help.
  2. Or maybe... by Aladrin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Or maybe people shouldn't submit their data to every website they visit. If they care about their privacy, they had better well read the privacy policy.

    Companies aren't going to dumb-down their policies and open themselves to lawsuits. They are precise and lengthy for a reason.

    In the end it doesn't even matter, though. They all include a clause that lets them change the policy any time they like.

    --
    "If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
  3. No big deal. by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 5, Funny

    200 hours? big deal.
    Average amount of hours wasted reading Slashdot at work in a year : 5,000,000

    --
    "But this one goes to 11!"
    1. Re:No big deal. by aurb · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's a good thing we don't read the articles. The number could be much much bigger...

  4. Re:fp by ozphx · · Score: 5, Funny

    Short, sweet and to the point. Fine use of rhetoricals and emphasis on the punchline. This well balanced piece is let down by its brevity and typos, I can't help but feel that Coward rushed this work.

    Worth your time. Three and a half stars.

    --
    3laws: No freebies, no backsies, GTFO.
  5. I'm your browser and I'm here to help. by SleptThroughClass · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Even better, a tag could tell your browser which standard policy is being used. Tell your browser which policies you want to be accepted, and what action to take for sites with other policies.

  6. Re:They need another study by corsec67 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Not even congress reads the laws.

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    If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
  7. Re:This is a very BIG deal! by digitig · · Score: 5, Funny

    So, if our time, 200 hrs, is worth $350 billion

    Where do I apply for this $1.75 billion an hour job, reading privacy agreements?

    --
    Quidnam Latine loqui modo coepi?