research-article

Why Johnny can't opt out: a usability evaluation of tools to limit online behavioral advertising

Authors:

Rebecca Balebako,

Lorrie CranorAuthors Info & Claims

CHI '12: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Pages 589 - 598

https://doi.org/10.1145/2207676.2207759

Published: 05 May 2012 Publication History

Abstract

We present results of a 45-participant laboratory study investigating the usability of nine tools to limit online behavioral advertising (OBA). We interviewed participants about OBA and recorded their behavior and attitudes as they configured and used a privacy tool, such as a browser plugin that blocks requests to specific URLs, a tool that sets browser cookies indicating a user's preference to opt out of OBA, or the privacy settings built into a web browser. We found serious usability flaws in all tools we tested. Participants found many tools difficult to configure, and tools' default settings were often minimally protective. Ineffective communication, confusing interfaces, and a lack of feedback led many participants to conclude that a tool was blocking OBA when they had not properly configured it to do so. Without being familiar with many advertising companies and tracking technologies, it was difficult for participants to use the tools effectively.

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https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/3698900.3699057
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Alashwali EMysuru Chandrashekar RLanyon MFaith Cranor L(2024)Detection and Impact of Debit/Credit Card Fraud: Victims' ExperiencesProceedings of the 2024 European Symposium on Usable Security10.1145/3688459.3688464(235-260)Online publication date: 30-Sep-2024
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Index Terms

Why Johnny can't opt out: a usability evaluation of tools to limit online behavioral advertising
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)

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Information & Contributors

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Published In

cover image ACM Conferences

CHI '12: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

May 2012

3276 pages

ISBN:9781450310154

DOI:10.1145/2207676

General Chair:
Joseph A. Konstan
University of Minnesota
,
Program Chairs:
Ed H. Chi
Google
,
Kristina Höök
Mobile Life at KTH

Copyright © 2012 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 05 May 2012

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CHI '12: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

May 5 - 10, 2012

Texas, Austin, USA

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Overall Acceptance Rate 6,199 of 26,314 submissions, 24%

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Cited By

Sharma TKyi LWang YBiega ABalzarotti DXu W(2024)"I'm not convinced that they don't collect more than is necessary"Proceedings of the 33rd USENIX Conference on Security Symposium10.5555/3698900.3699057(2797-2812)Online publication date: 14-Aug-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/3698900.3699057
Hrle TMilad MLi JWoods D(2024)"Just a tool, until you stab someone with it": Exploring Reddit Users' Questions and Advice on the Legality of Port ScansProceedings of the 2024 European Symposium on Usable Security10.1145/3688459.3688469(322-336)Online publication date: 30-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3688459.3688469
Alashwali EMysuru Chandrashekar RLanyon MFaith Cranor L(2024)Detection and Impact of Debit/Credit Card Fraud: Victims' ExperiencesProceedings of the 2024 European Symposium on Usable Security10.1145/3688459.3688464(235-260)Online publication date: 30-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3688459.3688464
Smith GCarson SVengurlekar RMorales STsai YGeorge RBedwell JJones TMondal MSmith BSu NKnijnenburg BPage X(2024)"I Know I'm Being Observed:" Video Interventions to Educate Users about Targeted Advertising on FacebookProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642885(1-27)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
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Stubenvoll MBinder A(2024)Is knowledge power? Testing whether knowledge affects chilling effects and privacy-protective behaviors using browser historiesComputers in Human Behavior10.1016/j.chb.2023.107949150:COnline publication date: 1-Jan-2024
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Kröger J(2023)Technology Cannot Fix the Privacy CrisisSSRN Electronic Journal10.2139/ssrn.4326794Online publication date: 2023
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Habib HCranor LChiasson SKapadia A(2022)Evaluating the usability of privacy choice mechanismsProceedings of the Eighteenth USENIX Conference on Usable Privacy and Security10.5555/3563609.3563624(273-289)Online publication date: 8-Aug-2022
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Habib HPearman SYoung ESaxena IZhang RCranor L(2022)Identifying User Needs for Advertising Controls on FacebookProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/35129066:CSCW1(1-42)Online publication date: 7-Apr-2022
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