section_path: Conceptions of privacy/Privacy paradox and economic valuation/The economic valuation of privacy/Information asymmetry
section_name: Information asymmetry
paragraph_text: Information asymmetry
  
  Users are not always given the tools to live up to their professed privacy concerns, and they are sometimes willing to trade private information for convenience, functionality, or financial gain, even when the gains are very small. One study suggests that people think their browser history is worth the equivalent of a cheap meal. Another finds that attitudes to privacy risk do not appear to depend on whether it is already under threat or not. The methodology of user empowerment describes how to provide users with sufficient context to make privacy-informed decisions.