Security News > 2021 > January > Users can be manipulated to share private information online

Online users are more likely to reveal private information based on how website forms are structured to elicit data, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev researchers have determined.

"The objective was to demonstrate that we are able to cause smartphone and PC users of online services to disclose more information by measuring the likelihood that they sign-up for a service simply by manipulating the way information items were presented," says Prof. Lior Fink, head of the BGU Behavioral Information Technologies Lab and a member of the Department of Industrial Management and Engineering.

The researchers showed that by using digital "Foot-in-the-door" techniques, such as requesting personal information from less important to more private, websites can successfully entice users to reveal more of their private information.

By placing each request on consecutive, separate webpages, users are more likely to reveal more private data.

Websites can further manipulate their users by spreading out information requests over the course of several pages, rather than consolidating all requests on one page.

Capture private information that users share online.

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