Living Online Consumer research to inform consumer protections in the digital economy ACCAN Conference 12 Sept 2018 Lauren Solomon Chief Executive Officer

CPRC’s Research Agenda – Living Online CPRC research & policy submissions Release of Consumer Data & the Digital Economy report (July ‘18) Consumer Data Right - Data Standards Advisory Group Digital Platforms Inquiry Research Grant $100,000 research project grant awarded to University of Melbourne consortia to investigate consumer data collection, profiling practices and discrimination. Coordination & bringing policy community together Hosted query:data conference 16th July 2018 Consumer Data Research Network For consumer researchers working on consumer data issues- consumer behaviour, competition & consumer law, privacy, data ethics, machine learning.

Consumer data & the digital economy – report release July 2018 How do we define consumer data? How data sharing is being enabled? Benefits of consumer data Emerging risks for detriment & discrimination Australian knowledge, behaviour and attitudes towards data collection, sharing & use Policy implications Full report available: www.cprc.org.au

Key research findings Australians value their privacy Vast majority of Australians uncomfortable with companies sharing personal information for secondary purposes – Friends on social networks (71%), location data (71%), browsing history (72%), date of birth (73%), phone number (80%), device ID (83%), messages (86%), phone contacts (87%). Privacy policies are not enabling comprehension or real choice 94% of Australians surveyed did not read all of the Privacy Policies that applied to them in the past 12 months Of those that read at least one policy, 67% accepted terms they did not feel comfortable with 73% of those did so because it was the only way to access the product or service Full report available: www.cprc.org.au

Key research findings Australians expect their data to be used fairly The majority of those surveyed found it unacceptable for companies to: to charge different consumers different prices, based on their profile (88%) collect data about them without their knowledge to assess eligibility or exclude from a loan or insurance (87%) use payment information to exclude from certain essential products & services (82%) Full report available: www.cprc.org.au

Key research findings Significant consumer demand for policy reform 95% supported companies providing options about what data is collected and who it is shared with. 91% only wanted companies to collect data required for delivering the service. 73% support Government mandating the provision of options to consumers about what data is collected, who it is shared with and what it can be used for. 67% believe Government should develop protections to ensure consumers are not unfairly excluded from essential products or services based on the data or profile. Full report available: www.cprc.org.au

Policy implications Economy-wide policy & regulatory reforms required including consideration of human rights, competition & consumer law, privacy and other fields – it’s a collective challenge Deductive vs Inductive reasoning Genuine choice & control fundamental to operation of the competitive marketplace consent – issues with privacy policies both for comprehension & choice Greater transparency of consumer profiling information & data asymmetry – power, transparency inputs – quality of the data, use of proxies scope for discrimination & exclusion algorithmic auditing – regulatory powers Full report available: www.cprc.org.au

Thank you. For more information… Website: www.cprc.org.au Twitter: CPRC_research Consumer Data Research Network: contact Senior Research & Policy Officer, Phuong Nguyen on phuong.nguyen@cprc.org.au