The Market Failure of Anonymity Services

  • Heiko Rossnagel
Conference paper
Part of the Lecture Notes in Computer Science book series (LNCS, volume 6033)

Abstract

While technologies for anonymous communication have been thoroughly researched and despite the existence of several protection services, the deployment of such services has not yet reached the mass market of end users. So far only a very small fraction of users are using anonymity services and early adopters, which are necessary to reach a critical mass of adopters, have not been attracted. Consequently, there is no beneficial market today for anonymity services. In this paper we conduct an analysis grounded in the diffusion of innovations theory on the reasons for the slow diffusion of anonymity services. We conclude that an unclear relative advantage, a high complexity and the inability to observe or demonstrate that the communication is really anonymous are major hindrances. Furthermore, we discuss several possibilities on how to stimulate the adoption.

Keywords

Information Security Market Failure Relative Advantage Technology Acceptance Model Early Adopter 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Download to read the full conference paper text

References

  1. 1.
    Acquisti, A., Dingledine, R., Syverson, P.: On the economics of anonymity. In: Wright, R.N. (ed.) FC 2003. LNCS, vol. 2742, pp. 84–102. Springer, Heidelberg (2003)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. 2.
    Acquisti, A., Friedman, A., Telang, R.: Is There a Cost to Privacy Breaches?: An Event Study. In: Proceedings of the Twenty Seventh International Conference on Information Systems, Milwaukee, WI (2006)Google Scholar
  3. 3.
    Acquisti, A., Grossklags, J.: Privacy and Rationality in Individual Decision Making. IEEE Security & Privacy 3(1), 26–33 (2005)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. 4.
    Acquisti, A.: Privacy and Security of Personal Information: Economic Incentive and Technological Solutions. In: Camp, J., Lewis, R. (eds.) The Economics of Information Security, pp. 1–9. Kluwer, Dordrecht (2004)Google Scholar
  5. 5.
    Acquisti, A.: Privacy in Electronic Commerce and the Economics of Immediate Gratification. In: Proceedings of the EC 2004. ACM, New York (2004)Google Scholar
  6. 6.
    Anderson, R., Boehme, R., Clayton, R., Moore, T.: Security Economics and the Internal Market (2008), http://www.enisa.europa.eu/doc/pdf/report_sec_econ_&_int_mark_20080131.pdf
  7. 7.
    Arkerlof, G.A.: The Market for Lemmons: Quality, Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism. The Quaterly Journal of Economics 84(3), 488–500 (1970)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. 8.
    Belanger, F., Hiller, J.S., Smith, W.J.: Trustworthiness in electronic commerce: the role of privacy, security, and site attributes. Journal of Strategic Information Systems (11), 245–270 (2002)Google Scholar
  9. 9.
    Berendt, B., Guenther, O., Spiekermann, S.: Privacy in E-Commerce: Stated Preferences vs. Actual Behavior. Communications of the ACM 48(4), 101–106 (2005)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. 10.
    Berthold, O., Federrath, H., Köpsell, S.: Web MIXes: A System for Anonymous and Unobservable Internet Access. In: Federrath, H. (ed.) Designing Privacy Enhancing Technologies. LNCS, vol. 2009, pp. 115–129. Springer, Heidelberg (2001)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. 11.
    Cavoukian, A.: Privacy and Radical Pragmatism: Change the Paradigm. In: Information and Privacy Commisioner of Ontario, Canada, August 8 (2008)Google Scholar
  12. 12.
    Cavoukian, A.: Privacy in the Clouds: Privacy and Digital Identity: Implications for the Internet, May 28 (2008)Google Scholar
  13. 13.
    Chaum, D.L.: Untraceable Electronic Mail, Return Addresses, and Digital Pseudonyms. Communications of the ACM 24(2), 84–88 (1981)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. 14.
    Clark, J., Van Oorschot, P.C., Adams, C.: Usability of anonymous web browsing: an examination of tor interfaces and deployability. In: Proceedings of the 3rd symposium on Usable privacy and security, New York, NY, pp. 41–51 (2007)Google Scholar
  15. 15.
    Clayton, R., Murdoch, S.J., Watson, R.N.M.: Ignoring the Great Firewall of China. In: Danezis, G., Golle, P. (eds.) PET 2006. LNCS, vol. 4258, pp. 20–35. Springer, Heidelberg (2006)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. 16.
    Coopersmith, J.: Pornography, Technology and Progress. ICON 4, 94–125 (1998)Google Scholar
  17. 17.
    Davis, F.D., Bagozzi, R.P., Warshaw, P.R.: User Acceptance of Computer Technology: A Comparison of Two Theoretical Models. Management Science 35(8), 982–1003 (1989)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. 18.
    Davis, F.D.: Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology. MIS Quaterly 13(3), 319–340 (1989)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. 19.
    Diel, S.: Gestaltungsvorschläge zur Verteilung von Kosten und Nutzen qualifizierter elektronischer Signaturen, Master Thesis, Department of Business Administration and Economics, Goethe-University, Frankfurt am Main (2007)Google Scholar
  20. 20.
    Dingledine, R., Mathewson, N., Syverson, P.: Tor: The Second-Generation Onion Router. In: Proceedings of the 13th USENIX Security Symposium, San Diego, pp. 303–320 (2004)Google Scholar
  21. 21.
    Dingledine, R., Mathewson, N.: Anonymity loves company: Usability and the network effect. In: The Fifth Workshop on the Economics of Information Security (WEIS 2006). University of Cambridge (2006)Google Scholar
  22. 22.
    Federrath, H., Jerichow, A., Kesdogan, D., Pfitzmann, A., Spaniol, O.: Mobilkommunikation ohne Bewegungsprofile. In: Pfitzmann, A., Mueller, G. (eds.) Mehrseitige Sicherheit in der Kommunikationstechnik, pp. 169–180. Addison Wesley, Boston (1997)Google Scholar
  23. 23.
    Feigenbaum, J., Freedman, M., Sander, T., Shostack, A.: Economic barriers to the deployment of existing privacy technology. In: Proceedings of the Workshop on Economics and Information Security, Berkley, CA (2002)Google Scholar
  24. 24.
    Fishbein, M., Ajzen, I.: Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research. Addison-Wesley, Reading (1975)Google Scholar
  25. 25.
    Fritsch, L., Abie, H.: Towards a Research Road Map for the Management of Privacy Risks in Information Systems. In: Alkassar, A., Siekmann, J. (eds.) Sicherheit 2008, pp. 1–16. Koellen Druck + Verlag GmbH, Bonn (2008)Google Scholar
  26. 26.
    Fritsch, L., Rossnagel, H., Schwenke, M., Stadler, T.: Die Pflicht zum Angebot anonym nutzbarer Dienste: Eine technische und rechtliche Zumutbarkeitsbetrachtung. Datenschutz und Datensicherheit (DuD) 29(10), 592–596 (2005)Google Scholar
  27. 27.
    Galletta, D.F., Henry, R., McCoy, S., Polak, P.: Web site delays: How tolerant are users? Journal of the AIS 5(1), 1–28 (2004)Google Scholar
  28. 28.
    Gefen, D., Karahanna, E., Straub, D.W.: Trust and TAM in Online Shopping: An Integrated Model. MIS Quaterly 27(1), 51–90 (2003)Google Scholar
  29. 29.
    Grantham, A., Tsekouras, G.: Diffusing Wireless Applications in a Mobile World. Technology in Society (27), 85–104 (2005)Google Scholar
  30. 30.
    Huberman, B.A., Adar, E., Fine, L.R.: Valuating Privacy. IEEE Security & Privacy 3(5), 22–25 (2005)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. 31.
    Kai-Lung, H., Hock, H.T., Sang-Yong, T.L.: The Value of Privacy Assurance: An Exploratory Field Experiment. MIS Quaterly 31(1), 19–33 (2007)Google Scholar
  32. 32.
    Litfin, T.: Adoptionsfaktoren: Empirische Analyse am Beispiel eines innovativen Telekommunikationsdienstes, DUV, Wiesbaden (2000)Google Scholar
  33. 33.
    Mahler, A., Rogers, E.M.: The diffusion of interactive communication innovations and the critical mass: The adoption of telecommunication services by German banks. Telecommunications Policy (23), 719–740 (1999)Google Scholar
  34. 34.
    McCoy, D., Bauer, K., Grunwald, D., Kohno, T., Sicker, D.C.: Shining Light in Dark Places: Understanding the Tor Network. In: Borisov, N., Goldberg, I. (eds.) PETS 2008. LNCS, vol. 5134, pp. 63–76. Springer, Heidelberg (2008)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  35. 35.
    Moore, G.C., Benbasat, I.: Development of an Instrument to Measure the Perceptions of Adopting an Information Technology Innovation. Information Systems Research 2(3), 173–191 (1991)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  36. 36.
    Moores, T.T., Dhillon, G.: Do Privacy Seals in E-Commerce Really Work? Communications of the ACM 46(12), 265–271 (2003)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. 37.
    Odlyzko, A.: Privacy and the Clandestine Evolution of E-Commerce. In: Proceedings of the ninth international conference on Electronic commerce, pp. 3–6. ACM Press, Mineapolis (2007)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  38. 38.
    Oren, S.S., Smith, S.A.: Critical Mass and Tariff Structure in Electronic Communications Markets. Bell Journal of Economics 12(2), 467–487 (1981)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  39. 39.
    Ozment, A., Schechter, S.E.: Bootstrapping the Adoption of Internet Security Protocols. In: Proceedings of the Fifth Workshop on the Economics of Information Security (WEIS 2006), Cambridge (2006)Google Scholar
  40. 40.
    Pavlou, P.A.: Consumer Acceptance of Electronic Commerce: Integrating Trust and Risk with the Technology Acceptance Model. International Journal of Electronic Commerce 7(3), 101–134 (2003)Google Scholar
  41. 41.
    Pfitzmann, A., Pfitzmann, B., Waidner, M.: ISDN-mixes: Untraceable communication with very small bandwith overhead. In: Proceedings of the GI/ITG Conference on Communication in Distributed Systems, pp. 451–463 (1991)Google Scholar
  42. 42.
    Pfitzmann, A., Waidner, M.: Networks Without User Observability – Design Options. In: Pichler, F. (ed.) EUROCRYPT 1985. LNCS, vol. 219, pp. 245–253. Springer, Heidelberg (1986)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  43. 43.
    Rhee, H., Ryu, Y.U., Kim, C.: I Am Fine But You Are Not: Optimistic Bias and Illusion of Control on Information Security. In: Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2005), pp. 381–394, AIS, Las Vegas, Nevada (2005)Google Scholar
  44. 44.
    Rogers, E.M.: Diffusion of Innovations, 5th edn. Free Press, New York (2003)Google Scholar
  45. 45.
    Rossnagel, H., Zibuschka, J., Pimenidis, L., Deselaers, T.: Facilitating the Adoption of Tor by Focusing on a Promising Target Group. In: Proceedings of the 14th Nordic Workshop on Secure IT Systems, Oslo, Norway, pp. 15–27 (2009)Google Scholar
  46. 46.
    Rossnagel, H.: Mobile Qualifizierte Elektronische Signaturen: Analyse der Hemmnisfaktoren und Gestaltungsvorschlaege zur Einfuehrung, Gabler, Wiesbaden (2009)Google Scholar
  47. 47.
    Ryan, B., Gross, N.C.: The Diffusion of Hybrid Seed Corn in Two Iowa Communities. Rural Sociology (8), 15–24 (1943)Google Scholar
  48. 48.
    Shapiro, C., Varian, H.R.: Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy. Harvard Business School Press, Boston (1999)Google Scholar
  49. 49.
    Shostack, A.: ‘People Won’t Pay For Privacy,’ Reconsidered. In: 2nd Annual Workshop ‘Economics and Information Security’, University of Maryland (2003)Google Scholar
  50. 50.
    Softonic: XeroBank Browser, http://xerobank-browser.softonic.de/ (accessed 2008-05-20)
  51. 51.
    Spiekermann, S.: Die Konsumenten der Anonymitaet: Wer nutzt Anonymisierungsdienste? Datenschutz und Datensicherheit (DuD) 27(3), 150–154 (2003)Google Scholar
  52. 52.
    Spiekermann, S.: The desire for privacy: Insights into the views and nature of the early adopters of privacy services. International Journal of Technology and Human Interaction 1(1) (2004)Google Scholar
  53. 53.
    Syverson, P.: The Paradoxical Value of Privacy. In: 2nd Annual Workshop Economics and Information Security, University of Maryland (2003)Google Scholar
  54. 54.
    Taylor, S., Todd, P.A.: Understanding Information Technology Usage: A Test of Competing Models. Information Systems Research 6(2), 144–176 (1995)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  55. 55.
    Tornatzky, L.G., Klein, K.J.: Innovation Characteristics and Innovation Adoption - Implementation: A Meta-Analysis of Findings. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management 29, 28–45 (1982)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  56. 56.
    Videoload.de: Pastewka Videoload Peinliche Momente, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rBK4AUljUg (accessed 2008-04-25)
  57. 57.
    Vila, T., Greenstadt, R., Molnar, D.: Why We Can’t Be Bothered to Read Private Policies: Models of Privacy Economics as a Lemons Market. In: 2nd Annual Workshop ‘Economics and Information Security’, Maryland (2003)Google Scholar
  58. 58.
    Weinstein, N.D.: Optimistic biases about personal risks. Science (24), 1232–1233 (1989)Google Scholar
  59. 59.
    Weitzner, D.J., Abelson, H., Berners-Lee, T., Feigenbaum, J., Hendler, J., Sussman, G.J.: Information Accountability. Communications of the ACM 51(6), 82–87 (2008)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  60. 60.
    Westergren, T.: Pandora Internet Radio, http://www.pandora.com/restricted (accessed 2008-05-21)

Copyright information

© IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2010

Authors and Affiliations

  • Heiko Rossnagel
    • 1
  1. 1.Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering (IAO)StuttgartGermany

Personalised recommendations