You 'Might' Be Affected: An Empirical Analysis of Readability and Usability Issues in Data Breach Notifications

Data breaches place affected individuals at significant risk of identity theft. Yet, prior studies have shown that many consumers do not take protective actions after receiving a data breach notification from a company. We analyzed 161 data breach notifications sent to consumers with respect to their readability, structure, risk communication, and presentation of potential actions. We find that notifications are long and require advanced reading skills. Many companies downplay or obscure the likelihood of the receiver being affected by the breach and associated risks. Moreover, potential actions and offered compensations are frequently described in lengthy paragraphs instead of clearly listed. Little information is provided regarding an action's urgency and effectiveness; little guidance is provided on which actions to prioritize. Based on our findings, we provide recommendations for designing more usable and informative data breach notifications that could help consumers better mitigate the consequences of being affected by a data breach.