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I had a similar reaction as redwards510, but you bring up a good point. You could do an "are you aware" question first, then follow-up with "are you okay with"

I had a similar reaction as redwards510, but you bring up a good point. You could do an "are you aware" question first, then follow-up with "are you okay with" right after. Another alternative is "are you surprised to learn," but that's still a different question, as very knowledgeable people would not be surprised to learn it, but may not be okay with it. Surveys are hard.

jonfw 8y ago
The point of the survey is to test whether or not people are aware of what google is doing with their data, not whether or not they're okay with it. Transparency is at the center of the argument of the morality of surveillance. There is nothing inherently immoral about collecting data from a consenting party, but it's impossible to gain consent from consumers who don't even know that they're under surveillance. If you are attempting to test peoples existing knowledge of a situation, you don't want to offer new information before you gauge their existing knowledge.
- tremon 8y ago
  The point of the survey is to test whether or not people are aware of what google is doing with their data But this is a difficult question as well. Speaking for myself, I cannot say that I am aware of what Google is doing with my data. I fully expect them to use my data for any and all purposes they can think of, and I'm not okay with any of that -- but I'm still not aware of what they're actually doing.
- scott_s 8y ago
  > The point of the survey is to test whether or not people are aware of what google is doing with their data, not whether or not they're okay with it. I'm not sure that's true. From the article itself: "DCN surveyed a nationally representative sample to find out what people expect from Google — and, as with a similar study we conducted last year about Facebook, the results were unsettling." Since the notion of "expect" is baked into the purpose, I think some manner of "okay with it" is fundamental to the survey. (Because when people don't expect something, that's usually not okay.)
Macross8299 8y ago
Why not reframe the question to true/false? Rather than "Are you aware that Google does X?" (which implies that Google does x implicitly) to something like "True/False: Google does X"

jonfw 8y ago

The point of the survey is to test whether or not people are aware of what google is doing with their data, not whether or not they're okay with it. Transparency is at the center of the argument of the morality of surveillance. There is nothing inherently immoral about collecting data from a consenting party, but it's impossible to gain consent from consumers who don't even know that they're under surveillance. If you are attempting to test peoples existing knowledge of a situation, you don't want to offer new information before you gauge their existing knowledge.

tremon 8y ago
The point of the survey is to test whether or not people are aware of what google is doing with their data But this is a difficult question as well. Speaking for myself, I cannot say that I am aware of what Google is doing with my data. I fully expect them to use my data for any and all purposes they can think of, and I'm not okay with any of that -- but I'm still not aware of what they're actually doing.
scott_s 8y ago
> The point of the survey is to test whether or not people are aware of what google is doing with their data, not whether or not they're okay with it. I'm not sure that's true. From the article itself: "DCN surveyed a nationally representative sample to find out what people expect from Google — and, as with a similar study we conducted last year about Facebook, the results were unsettling." Since the notion of "expect" is baked into the purpose, I think some manner of "okay with it" is fundamental to the survey. (Because when people don't expect something, that's usually not okay.)

Macross8299 8y ago

Why not reframe the question to true/false? Rather than "Are you aware that Google does X?" (which implies that Google does x implicitly) to something like "True/False: Google does X"