Data is an essential resource: It forms the basis for various business models in the digital economy and is a central driver of innovation. This holds especially true for personal data.

Before obtaining such data, individuals are usually required to decide on whether they want to disclose their personal data. Against the background of recent research, it remains an open question as to whether and to what extent the willingness to disclose one’s personal data depends on cultural imprint, the existing legal framework, and processes of decision making.

The project “Vectors of Data Disclosure” aims to provide insight on these questions by linking perspectives from cultural sciences, business information systems, and law. The researchers strive to identify cultural and regulatory effects that determine whether and how individuals disclose personal data. To this end, they examine the decision-making process conducting behavioural economic studies and, as a result, create a model of influences and interdependencies. The project team is especially interested in data disclosure from an comparative context – focussing on different legal as well as cultural systems and backgrounds. By conducting this comparative study, the project team aims to acquire insights into the fundamental principles of data disclosure.

These findings will in turn serve as recommendations for stakeholders on how national, supranational, and international legal and regulatory frameworks can be designed and how data-based business models can be used/adapted in and for different (cultural) settings.