Session
Title: Awareness by Design: On the road towards self-determination
Theme: Emerging Technologies
Subtheme: Internet Ethics
Presenters:
- Nicolas Diaz Ferreyra, Research fellow at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Member of the PDP4E Project “Methods and tools for GDPR compliance”, H2020 European Project 787034.
- Catherine García van Hoogstraten. Lecturer, researcher at the Faculty of Public Management, Law and Security at The Hague University of Applied Sciences. Member of the Advisory Board of The Global Foum on Cyber Expertise.
Stakeholder Group: Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG).
Description: Whether consciously or unconsciously, we interact with risky situations in our daily lives. From jaywalking or smoking cigarettes, people evaluate the potential consequences of risky actions on a daily basis. Likewise, risk-awareness strategies are used every day to inform people about the risks of engaging with certain activities or consuming products or services. Today, the digital economy is based on the content that is shared and consumed (almost exclusively) by Internet users. However, when it comes to online platforms, users are not given much information about the risks of sharing or consuming information on the Internet (e.g. cyberstalking, sextortion, fake news, or online harassment). Moreover, when users give their consent for data collection and processing (i.e. when they accept the privacy policy), they receive very little (for not saying none) information about such risks. This lack of information modulates the perceived severity of online risks in favor of information disclosure and, consequently, in benefit of the service providers. In this lightning session, we will discuss the users’ right to be informed on the risks of sharing and consuming information in online platforms. Scholars have suggested that users who are more aware of the consequences of online interaction are less likely to share private information and more likely to protect their privacy. Likewise, they suggest that in order to inspire risk reduction behaviors, risks should be perceived as controllable by the users. In line with this premise (i.e. more information, better decisions), this lightning session proposes:
- Discuss the role of awareness in online decision-making processes. Particularly, how does it influence information disclosure and consumption in online social networks.
- Analyze the current state of risk communication in online platforms (i.e. legal frameworks and mechanisms of compliance).
- Review the state of the art of user-centered technologies for risk communication and management (e.g. nutrition labels for fake news, nudges for privacy and cybersecurity).
- Summarize achievements, gaps and challenges for shaping public policies oriented to guarantee the users’ self-determination on the internet.
- Create a common agenda for multi-stakeholder collaborations.
NOTE: This session is a Digital Cooperation Discussion. Hence, the outcome of this session will be reported to the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation.
- Session Type (Workshop, Open Forum, etc.): Lightning session
- Title: Awareness by Design: On the road towards self-determination
- Date & Time: Wednesday, 14 November 2018 - 13:00 to 13:20
- Organizer(s): Nicolás Díaz Ferreyra
- Chair/Moderator: Catherine García van Hoogstraten
- Rapporteur/Notetaker: Nicolás Díaz Ferreyra
- List of speakers and their institutional affiliations (Indicate male/female/ transgender male/ transgender female/gender variant/prefer not to answer):
Nicolás Díaz Ferreyra
- Male
- Research fellow at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.
- Member of the PDP4E Project “Methods and tools for GDPR compliance”, H2020 European Project 787034.
Catherine García van Hoogstraten
- Female
- Lecturer at the Faculty of Public Management, Law and Security, The Hague University of Applied Sciences.
- Member of the advisory board of The Global Fortum on Cyber Expertise.
- Theme (as listed here): Emerging Technologies
- Subtheme (as listed here): Internet Ethics
- Please state no more than three (3) key messages of the discussion. [150 words or less]
(i) Risk awareness is key for making better and more informed decisions. However, privacy policies of Social Media Platforms do not provide information about the risks of consuming/sharing personal information on the Internet. (ii) Users have the right to be informed about the risks of using an Internet platform/service like they do with products/services in the real world. (iii) Platforms should incorporate user-centred mechanisms for risk communication and management to support the users on their privacy decisions.
- Please elaborate on the discussion held, specifically on areas of agreement and divergence: Mrs. García van Hoogstraten started with a brief introduction on the topic of the lightning session and the different aspects to be discussed. Then, Mr. Díaz Ferreyra continued with an introduction to the different theories that explain self-disclosure in social networks. At this point Mr. Díaz Ferreyra highlighted the importance of media technologies for the perception of privacy risks. He described that people who are not aware of the risks of exposing their private life in social networks are more likely to share more amounts of private data. Moreover, he suggested that, since risks information is missing in the layout of media platforms, people cannot foresee the consequences of their actions. This leads people to higher levels of exposition and, consequently, to higher chances of living negative experiences on the Internet. For this reason, Mr. Díaz Ferreyra suggested that it is necessary to incorporate more risk awareness instruments inside social media platforms and, thereby, guide the users to better privacy decisions. Mrs. Garcia van Hoogstraten supported this premise and described that users on this realm should be considered as consumers that have the right to know about the quality of a service. This was followed by the introduction of nutrition labels for fake news which is a promising approach for dealing with information disorders on the Internet. Basically, the panellists proposed to take an approach similar to the one followed in the real world which consist on displaying an array of attributes in the body of an article which describe its quality. The audience supported the initiatives that where introduced by the panellists and requested additional information. There was an agreement on the use of risk awareness to empower the users and overcome issues related to fake news and potential censorship.
- Please describe any policy recommendations or suggestions regarding the way forward/potential next steps: Risk awareness has not been discussed explicitly as a mechanism that can empower the users of social media platforms. Although article 33 of the GDPR introduced the notion of Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) and “the risks to the rights of data subjects” very few discussions have been held on how such DPIA should be conducted, at which stage of the development process of media technologies and by who. Hence, we suggest focusing more in these aspects and encourage the different stakeholders to cooperate on behalf of a more privacy-aware digital environment.
- What ideas surfaced in the discussion with respect to how the IGF ecosystem might make progress on this issue?: The audience of the lightning session supported the initiative of an awareness-by design regulatory framework that demands the incorporation of risk information inside the layout and policy of social media platforms. This can be a concrete topic of discussion for IGF 2019 and an opportunity to bring together academia, public sector, and industry.
- Please estimate the total number of participants: 10
- Please estimate the total number of women and gender-variant individuals present: 2
- To what extent did the session discuss gender issues, and if to any extent, what was the discussion? No gender issues were treated in this session