The Shorter the Better? Effects of Privacy Policy Length on Online Privacy Decision-Making

Privacy policies provide Internet users with the possibility to inform themselves about websites’ usage of their disclosed personal data. Strikingly, however, most people tend not to read privacy policies because they are long and cumbersome, indicating that people do not wish to expend much (cognitive) effort on reading such policies. The present study aimed to examine whether shorter privacy policies can be beneficial in informing users about a social networking site’s (SNS) privacy practices, and to investigate associations between variables relevant for privacy decision-making using one theory-based integrative model. In an online experiment, participants (N = 305) were asked to create a personal account on an SNS after being given the option to read the privacy policy. Privacy policy length and the SNS’s level of privacy were varied, creating a 2 (policy length) x 2 (level of privacy) between-subjects design. The results revealed that participants who saw short policies spent less time on reading but gained higher knowledge about the SNS’s privacy practices - due to the fact that they spent more reading time per word. Factual privacy policy knowledge was found to be an indicator for participants’ subjective privacy perception. The perception and evaluation of the specific SNS´s privacy level influenced the assessment of privacy costs and benefits. Particularly when benefits were perceived as high, self-disclosure was increased

Enzyme Scaffolds with Hierarchically Defined Properties via 3D Jet Writing

The immobilization of enzymes into polymer hydrogels is a versatile approach to improve their stability and utility in biotechnological and biomedical applications. However, these systems typically show limited enzyme activity, due to unfavorable pore dimensions and low enzyme accessibility. Here, 3D jet writing of water‐based bioinks, which contain preloaded enzymes, is used to prepare hydrogel scaffolds with well‐defined, tessellated micropores. After 3D jet writing, the scaffolds are chemically modified via photopolymerization to ensure mechanical stability. Enzyme loading and activity in the hydrogel scaffolds is fully retained over 3 d. Important structural parameters of the scaffolds such as pore size, pore geometry, and wall diameter are controlled with micrometer resolution to avoid mass‐transport limitations. It is demonstrated that scaffold pore sizes between 120 µm and 1 mm can be created by 3D jet writing approaching the length scales of free diffusion in the hydrogels substrates and resulting in high levels of enzyme activity (21.2% activity relative to free enzyme). With further work, a broad range of applications for enzyme‐laden hydrogel scaffolds including diagnostics and enzymatic cascade reactions is anticipated.In this article, the development and application of a water‐based bioink with preloaded enzymes is described. With 3D jet writing, a hydrodynamic jetting system, freestanding 3D hydrogel frameworks with defined micropores are brightened. The enzyme‐loaded scaffolds show a high enzymatic activity and can be tested for industrial use in a continuous flow reactor over several days.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162721/2/mabi202000154_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162721/1/mabi202000154.pd

Exposure to Pro- and Anti-Consensus Science Information on Social Media

In this project, it is examined whether persons who are generally skeptical about science are incidentally exposed to more anti-consensus than to pro-consensus science information on social media and whether this creates a knowledge overconfidence

General science skepticism: development and validation of a new scale

In this project we develop and validate a questionnaire measuring people's general skepticism towards science and scientists within three studies