Session to be led by Prof. Raveesh Mayya, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University 

5 February, 2024, Bengaluru: The Centre for Software and Information Technology Management (CSITM) at IIM Bangalore will conduct an Information Systems (IS) research seminar titled, ‘Delaying Informed Consent: An Empirical Investigation of Mobile Apps’ Upgrade Decisions’, on 29th February 2024, from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm. The session will be led by Prof. Raveesh Mayya from Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University, based on his paper by the same title, which he has co-authored with Prof. Siva Viswanathan of Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland. CSTIM will conduct the seminar as part of its initiative to promote dissemination and application of knowledge for the benefit of academics and professionals from all walks of industry.  

It will be a hybrid event. To register through Zoom, those interested need to click this link. Those who register, will be sent a Zoom link for the webinar. 

To participate in person, candidates need to click this link for registration. Those candidates will receive confirmation of their participation through e-mail. 

For further queries, please write to csitm@iimb.ac.in 

Abstract: In response to users’ evolving desire for choice and control over their personal data, numerous platforms across sectors have been updating privacy policies. Unlike public regulations that mandate uniform compliance, many platforms grant a more flexible time window for complementors to adopt privacy policies. While there have been several studies examining the impact of privacy policies, the consequences of delayed policy adoption under time flexibility remain largely unexplored. This study is among the first to examine the impact of apps delaying policy adoption in the context of a privacy policy change. The context of the study is the upgrade to Android version 6.0 that gave consumers more control over their personal data. Apps were given a three-year grace period to adopt the new privacy policy, during which apps that did not adopt the policy could still run on the latest Android version. This variation in policy adoption by apps to examine its impact on apps’ marketplace outcomes was leveraged. By installing over 13,691 popular apps on emulators, the team could detect exactly when each app upgrades to version 6.0. This unique dataset was combined with multiple datasets to quantify the impact of delaying the upgrade. It was found that delaying the upgrade results in a significant loss of downloads and user ratings for apps. Frequently maintaining the apps without upgrading can only partially mitigate these declines. In further examining who delays upgrades and why, it was found that apps that display in-app-advertising and overreach for permissions are more likely to delay upgrading, suggesting a strategic trade-off between marketplace outcomes and the ability to collect data continuously. The findings of the study highlight the need to carefully consider the potential strategic behavior of participants in designing policy implementation. The researchers discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings. 

Speaker Profile: Dr. Raveesh Mayya, an Assistant Professor of Technology, Operations and Statistics at Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University, is a researcher in digital platform policies and platform governance space. With a deep interest in understanding the repercussions of policy changes initiated by platforms, his research focuses on quantifying both the intended and unintended consequences of such changes, contributing to the improvement of platform governance. His ongoing research topics include exploring the impact of information privacy policies on mobile platforms, analyzing the effects of untested platform growth strategies on the platform participants, platform governance questions around digital token tradability and decentralized governance, and the impact of large language models on open innovation. He has published his work in MIS Quarterly and Production and Operations Management, and has a few works in advanced rounds in Management Science and Information Systems Research. He has been invited to present his work in many prestigious universities across the US, Europe and Asia, and his research has been recognized with the best paper nominations at top conferences in IS and Management, including WISE, WHICEB and AOM. He obtained his PhD in Information Systems from the University of Maryland, his MBA from FMS Delhi and his BE from PESIT, Bengaluru.