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4 - Manipulation by Design

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 November 2023

Ignacio Cofone
Affiliation:
McGill University, Montréal
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Summary

Chapter 4 delves into two efforts to reinforce consent: opt-in and informed choice. It illustrates why, in the information economy, they also fail. Power asymmetries enable systemic manipulation in the design of digital products and services. Manipulation by design thwarts improved consent provisions, interfering with people’s decision-making. People’s choices regarding their privacy are determined by the designs of the systems with which they interact. European and American attempts to regulate manipulation by changing tracking from ‘opt-out’ to ‘opt-in’ and reinforcing information crash on the illusion of consent. Contract law doctrines that aim to reduce manipulation are unsuitable because they assume mutually beneficial agreements, and privacy policies are neither. Best efforts to strengthen meaningful consent and choice, even where policies are specifically intended to protect users, ultimately are insufficient because of the environment in which privacy “decisions” take place.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Privacy Fallacy
Harm and Power in the Information Economy
, pp. 67 - 87
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Manipulation by Design
  • Ignacio Cofone, McGill University, Montréal
  • Book: The Privacy Fallacy
  • Online publication: 16 November 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108995825.005
Available formats
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  • Manipulation by Design
  • Ignacio Cofone, McGill University, Montréal
  • Book: The Privacy Fallacy
  • Online publication: 16 November 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108995825.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Manipulation by Design
  • Ignacio Cofone, McGill University, Montréal
  • Book: The Privacy Fallacy
  • Online publication: 16 November 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108995825.005
Available formats
×