A monopolist can use a ‘tracking’ technology to identify a consumer’s willingness to pay with some probability. Consumers can counteract tracking by acquiring a ‘hiding’ technology. We show that consumers may be collectively better off absent this hiding technology.
Belleflamme, Paul ; Vergote, Wouter. Monopoly price discrimination and privacy: The hidden cost of hiding. In: Economics Letters, Vol. 149, p. 141-144 (2016)