The Fertile Dark Matter of Privacy takes on the Dark Patterns of Surveillance

Abstract

We argue that privacy's political strength rests in its "economic dark matter" (p. 27)-its role in protecting individual autonomy, freedom, dignity, fairness, the collective value of privacy and the integrity of social life. Where privacy construed as diffuse, atomistic interests in informational control often fails to motivate political action, privacy as constitutive of society and in service of "important [social] functions" succeeds. While Acquisti et al correctly describe the state of our current political economy as having left no space for privacy as a lived, intuitive, human practice, we believe those same conditions are fostering a resurgence of interest in privacy as a means to address the wealth of harms these conditions produce. We close with a call for regulatory approaches that develop institutions, tools, and actors that can iteratively shape the corporate, social, and political landscape to protect the collective, public, and social value of privacy in the public interest.

Artificial intelligence and consumer manipulations: from consumer's counter algorithms to firm's self-regulation tools

“…The dark pattern can be produced by the design of the site or the modes of presentation of the choices [1]. It is not just a matter of using consumers' and users' vulnerabilities to induce them to make choices they could rationally try to curb, but also a matter of eliciting these preferences [34]. Thus, "manipulative by design" devices exist [35].…”

“Now You See Me, Now You Don’t”: How Digital Consumers Manage Their Online Visibility in Game-Like Conditions

“…For years, however, organizations have deployed “dark patterns” in the design of digital interfaces that lead consumers to make choices which, if fully informed and with the presence of alternatives options, they would likely not make ( Mulligan et al, 2020 ). Digital interfaces are often designed to give consumers the illusion of free choice when in fact they are designed to nudge and manipulate them to make particular choices, even if they do not match their preceding preferences, and, importantly, ensure that consumers share as much about themselves as possible in the process ( Mathur et al, 2019 ; Acquisti et al, 2020 ; Waldman, 2020 ).…”

“…We know from other studies (e.g., Acquisti et al, 2020 ; Mwesiumo et al, 2021 ) that many users are interested in actively managing their levels of privacy online. While at this stage, it may only be a utopian dream to reach one’s desired level of privacy, there is an increased refusal amongst people to simply accept the rules that especially, big technology companies (e.g., Facebook, Amazon, and Google) create for users to play by and which are designed to make users part with their data and feed the construction of models of consumer preferences ( Mulligan et al, 2020 ).…”

“…We capture digitally savvy consumers in the fields of action and surface the nuanced and multifaceted decision-making and thought processes that they engage in when they, situation-by-situation, decide on the tactics and methods to use in their efforts to manage the data and information they share with organizations, which affect their level of online visibility. While our research is informed by the insight generated by others in this field (e.g., Acquisti et al, 2020 ; Mulligan et al, 2020 ; Plangger and Montecchi, 2020 ) we adopt a novel approach by utilizing Goffman’s metaphor of Expression Games and the three forms of concealment or cover moves: covert concealment, minimized sharing and feinting as a lens to explore and surface how consumers knowingly manage their visibilities online as they spend time on digital platforms and ecommerce sites, engage in online shopping, browsing, information gathering and content creation. We undertake this exploration through in-depth interviews in combination with photo-elicitation with experienced users of digital technologies, platforms and devices.…”

Prototyping policy: Visualizing impact for better regulation

“…Design in general is motivated by a variety of factors from data collection incentives to profit models to desired individual behaviors and goals (Desjardins and Wakkary, 2013; Zhang, 2007). A design element itself is difficult to distill as “dark” or not, as the design often depends on the intent of the designer or institutional culture in which they are embedded (Bösch et al, 2016; Mulligan et al, 2020). However, people have questioned the motivations of organizations that appear to engage in human deception and covert data collection.…”