The New York Times reports that “despite how much we say we value our privacy — and we do, again and again — we tend to act inconsistently,” which is the Times-nice way of saying stupidly. To half-wit:

Letting Down Our Guard With Web Privacy

SAY you’ve come across a discount online retailer promising a steal on hand-stitched espadrilles for spring. You start setting up an account by offering your e-mail address — but before you can finish, there’s a ping on your phone. A text message. You read it and respond, then return to the Web site, enter your birth date, click “F” for female, agree to the company’s terms of service and carry on browsing.

But wait: What did you just agree to? Did you mean to reveal information as vital as your date of birth and e-mail address?

Most of us face such decisions daily. We are hurried and distracted and don’t pay close attention to what we are doing. Often, we turn over our data in exchange for a deal we can’t refuse.

Helpful graphic of an experiment by Alessandro Acquisti, a behavioral economist at Carnegie Mellon University . . .

Read the rest at Sneak Adtack.