Online shoppers are willing to pay a premium to buy from sites that have a clearly stated privacy policy, according to a recent study from Carnegie Mellon University. The study divided 276 people into three groups: one group received no information about the sites, another group received irrelevant information about the sites, and the final group received privacy information on the sites from Privacy Finder.

When participants were asked to purchase both batteries and a
vibrator…

…there was almost no difference in the price paid between the group that received no information and the group that received irrelevant information. The group that received the privacy information did show quite a difference from the group with no information, however–participants in group 3 paid $0.59 more for the batteries and $0.62 more for the vibrator.

Privacy Finder only works for the few shopping sites that have a computer-readable privacy policy known as a P3P policy; Barnes and Noble has one, but Amazon does not. Before giving personal information to any site, you should always check out any associated policies or terms and conditions. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER

Americans willing to pay (a little) more for privacy [Ars Technica]
The Effect of Online Privacy Information on Purchasing Behavior: An Experimental Study (PDF) [Carnegie Mellon University]
Privacy Finder

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