Interactive friction in consent forms Why we need global settings for informed decisions
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2021-06-28
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en
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Abstract
Internet users deal with data sharing requests every day. In these consent requests, the
users are often nudged towards taking the less privacy-friendly option. We argue that
nudging towards any choice option in these contexts could compromise deliberate choice
making and is consequently argued to potentially be undermining the European General
Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or unethical. This thesis then generally addresses
the existing issues with consent and introduces a framework to empirically determine how
well a design performs at obtaining lawful consent. To improve on these issues regarding
consent, we procure a set of design guidelines based on this framework, and propose and
alternative consent form design pattern. This pattern requires the user to interact with
the decision making material before expressing their consent (`interactors').
We compare the interactor pattern to nudging and non-nudging patterns in an online
experiment (N = 216) using the proposed framework, while emphasising on informed
consent and control. Our results indicate that the interactor pattern does not outperform
the other designs with respect to deliberation, rationality, attention and control.
These results support the idea that the current de nition of consent as legislated in the
GDPR has put a large burden on the user, resulting in cognitive overload and seemingly
automatic accepting behaviour. To minimise future cognitive load, we plead for the introduction
of a global default system where users can indicate their privacy preferences
through re
ective patterns. Future research should focus on what decisions should and
should not be taken over by prede ned user settings.
We call for an interdisciplinary approach to investigate the issues with digital consent
and digital choice environments, and pose an overview of the future challenges per
discipline.
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Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen