Doménico Chiappe

Madrird

Friday, 12 July 2024, 13:43

Opciones para compartir

A social network with an algorithm that selects only the topics that generate “maximum engagement” by the user and downloads that user data to locate their circle of friends and family… a video game that makes the player feel guilty for not accepting gamers… a platform that suggests endless content and an application in which messages expire… These are just some examples of how “designers analyse user data (behaviour, preference, habitual use or location, for example) to obtain the desired results in all cases.” That’s what it says in the report ‘Addictive patterns in the processing of personal data. Implications for data protection’, presented this Wednesday by Mar España, director of Spain’s AEPD data protection agency. The aim of all these tricks of the trade is the same: to get people of all ages addicted, leading them to engage in specific behaviours with misleading practices.

This report is one more step in the “need to regulate certain guidelines” as far as the AEPD is concerned. “The first ones to take responsibility are the internet companies, but governments must impose policies (to stop them),” said Mar España, who calls for a “state-wide pact” to stop these practices that seek to “monetise” their content with advertising. The development of these age verification technologies, which also serve as a firewall against deceptive practices, is urgently needed, because “the systems currently available on the market (self-declaration, sharing credentials with the content provider, having the content provider make an age estimate or having an intermediary entity between the user and the provider) have proven inefficient or very intrusive”, explained an AEDP source.

Most popular porn platforms in Spain

After the summer the state-run agency will push in the European Parliament for better compliance with the key principles already set in stone for age verification systems. AEPD will also call for sanctions against two of the most popular porn platforms in Spain, Pornhub and Onlyfans. “These companies should not use what they call ‘trusted third parties’ when it comes to age verification. The best way to be sure is the double-blind system for data verification,” said AEPD’s director.

The issue is that “with the excuse of verifying age, data is collected on a massive scale”, says España. “We have disseminated these criteria for implementation in the European Data Protection Committee and in Latin America.” The system proposed by the AEPD would consist of a “double-blind system that authorises a device” owned by an adult to access certain content without “knowing the purpose of the access. It is an official document that is issued with a driver’s licence, passport, ID card or, in the future, the European digital identity system. It should be anonymous and effective.”

Extend the initiative

The idea would be to extend the initiative to social media, video-streaming platforms, music, adult content and games, learning environments and health apps – all guilty, in the AEPD’s view, of using code that intentionally generates addiction and coerces through deception. Not even Google’s educational platform is spared.

“We have never been more exposed to having our very beings manipulated for decision-making,” warned España. “There are dark designs afoot and the digital tech companies are aware of the addictive and misleading effects they produce. They are also aware of the effects on behaviour to influence and make decisions that are neither autonomous nor informed about any negative consequences. The effects of such inappropriate use are already being experienced.”

Below is an extract from the AEPD’s course on these issues ‘New challenges for the protection of people’s rights in the face of the impact of the Internet’.

Here’s how addictive patterns work on user psyche

Available research points to psychological weaknesses or vulnerabilities and persistent and pervasive cognitive biases that are often exploited by addictive patterns to manipulate user behaviour, says the report ‘Addictive Patterns in Personal Data Processing. Implications for data protection’:

The Heuristic Effect: Content that elicits positive emotions significantly influencing user decisions.

Anchoring: Users rely too much on the first information offered (the anchor) when making decisions.

Automation Bias: Users tend to rely excessively on automated or algorithmic systems.

Default Effect: Users are unlikely to change the default settings and configurations to deselect a pre-selected checkbox, etc.

Justification of Effort: Users attribute a higher value to an outcome if they have had to make an effort to achieve it.

Framing Effect: Users draw different conclusions from the same information depending on how that information is presented.

Illusion of Control: Users tend to overestimate their degree of influence over external events.

Instant Gratification: Users tend to sacrifice future earnings for immediate pleasure or gain.

Investment: If the user is committed to the task, he/she wants to see the result or reach the end.

Loss Aversion: Users feel the impact of a loss twice as strongly as the equivalent pleasure of a gain.

Ostrich Effect: Users tend to ignore obvious negative situations.

Pro-innovation Bias: Users tend to show excessive optimism towards new platforms, applications and services and often fail to identify their limitations and weaknesses.

Self-assessment Problems: Users may overestimate their own abilities (e.g. the ability to detect deceptive or manipulative designs), underestimate the influence of visceral impulses on their behaviours, believe they are in total control and autonomous.

Social Norms: Users feel constrained or guided by unwritten rules and social standards understood by the rest of the users in the group.

Status Quo: Users tend to prefer an option that does not lead to any change.

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