Determining the Value of Compromising Your Privacy

From the Engadget article: "If you're roaming the internet, you might run across recommendation engines. Some offer products or services you'd actually want to use, but does interacting with them harm your privacy even more? Researchers developed an algorithm to reveal how much info you're handing over when you click around, essentially picking out which parts of a recommendation engine are and aren't safe for privacy-minded users."

The team fed their algorithm datasets from recommendation engines Movielens and Jester. Essentially, their math weighs the value users get by clicking against the personal info they're disclosing, and points out when users would be handing over too much information for too little effect. While not everyone uses those particular services, they've definitely used a recommendation before if they've spun up a Pandora station or let Netflix suggest films."

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