Privacy Nudges and Informed Consent? Challenges for Privacy Nudge Design

Abstract

Privacy nudges aim to support the “wise” choice concerning digital privacy decisions. Examples include nudges to encourage privacy-friendly app choices or to discourage unintended location disclosure. Yet, a general nudge criticism concerns the potential manipulation of users by targeting automatic and perhaps unaware cognitive processes. This calls for guidance in designing ethically favorable and transparent nudges. Therefore, this chapter first reviews and presents guidelines for designing ethical privacy nudges. Second, encouraging users to make the “wise” privacy choice is not easy. Initially, the more privacy-friendly choice for the user appears to be clear in many cases. However, with regard to privacy, the choice is less clear when considering legal requirements. Current EU regulations depart from generally favoring the more privacy-friendly option and instead suggest enabling users to make an informed decision. This is not necessarily the most privacy-preserving option but for some users might be a trade-off considering convenience or other factors. Apart from “privacy-preserving” nudges, this chapter thus discusses options for and challenges associated with designing privacy nudges that can support users in making informed privacy decisions. This includes nudges that target reflective thinking, interventions based on the users’ preferences, or a combination of nudges with other approaches.