Regulatory compliance with limited enforceability: Evidence from privacy policies


Ganglmair, Bernhard ; Krämer, Julia ; Gambato, Jacopo


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URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:180-madoc-670887
Document Type: Working paper
Year of publication: 2024
The title of a journal, publication series: ZEW Discussion Papers
Volume: 24-012
Place of publication: Mannheim
Publication language: English
Institution: Sonstige Einrichtungen > ZEW - Leibniz-Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung
Außerfakultäre Einrichtungen > Graduate School of Economic and Social Sciences - CDSE (Economics)
School of Law and Economics > Innovation u. Wettbewerb (Ganglmair 2020-)
MADOC publication series: Veröffentlichungen des ZEW (Leibniz-Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung) > ZEW Discussion Papers
Subject: 330 Economics
Classification: JEL: C81 , D23 , K12 , K20 , L51 , M15,
Keywords (English): data protection , disclosure , GDPR , privacy policies , readability , regulation , text-as-data , topic models
Abstract: The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of 2018 introduced stringent transparency rules compelling firms to disclose, in accessible language, details of their data collection, processing, and use. The specifics of the disclosure requirement are objective, and its compliance is easily verifiable; readability, however, is subjective and difficult to enforce. We use a simple inspection model to show how this asymmetric enforceability of regulatory rules and the corresponding firm compliance are linked. We then examine this link empirically using a large sample of privacy policies from German firms. We use text-as-data techniques to construct measures of disclosure and readability and show that firms increased the disclosure volume, but the readability of their privacy policies did not improve. Larger firms in concentrated industries demonstrated a stronger response in readability compliance, potentially due to heightened regulatory scrutiny. Moreover, data protection authorities with larger budgets induce better readability compliance without effects on disclosure




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