Margaret 
via Rethinking the design of the ‘terms of service’ agreement – SmartPlanet. Rethinking the design of the ‘terms of service’ agreement By Andrew Nusca Design student Gregg Bernstein looks at the terms of service agreement for Apple’s iTunes in an attempt to renovate a nearly illegible document. Every few months, a user experience-minded student comes … Read moreITunes TOS Redesign
Here is a short article about tax forms — that includes discussion of how not only forms can be laid out better, but how legal & financial terminology can be presented for users rather than for experts. via Self-assessment: not so taxing after all. from the Simplification Centre UK’s Blog: Self-assessment: not so taxing after … Read moreTax Form self-assessment designs
Here is a short CHI paper from researchers at Carnegie Mellon about how users use (or do not) a more privacy-aware browser. Their conclusion: Privacy concerns are prevalent among users’ current apprehensions about using the Internet for making purchases. While tools are available to make certain aspects of Internet shopping easier (e.g. comparing prices across … Read moreStudying the Impact of Privacy Information on Online Purchase Decisions
Here’s a talk Ryan Calo gave at Stanford comparing different styles of notice & analyzing what works.
From BlurryEdge Strategies’ blog: FTC Recommends Best Practices for Mobile Privacy On February 1, 2013, the FTC released a new report, Mobile Privacy Disclosures: Building Trust Through Transparency, setting out current data protection best practices for mobile operating system (OS) providers and app-developers. The report’s guiding principle is that these providers must work to give … Read moreFTC Mobile Privacy Report
The CyLab Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory (CUPS) brings together researchers working on a diverse set of projects related to understanding and improving the usability of privacy and security software and systems. Our research employs a combination of three high-level strategies to make secure systems more usable: building systems that “just work” without involving humans … Read moreCyLab Usable Privacy and Security Lab (CUPS)
Snapterms is a simple, fast and effective legal solution for your websites. Millions of websites lack proper terms and privacy policies, leaving them exposed to costly litigation. Snapterms was created for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs. Get started with Snapterms today and start protecting your assets. via Snapterms™ – Terms of Service, As a Service.
via Background : Privicons.org. Recently there have been numerous approaches for simplifying privacy policies by the use of icons. Similar to the Creative Commons project for managing content licenses, some scholars and technologists have suggested privacy policies could be enhanced by being expressed via several layers, including one with simple-to-understand icons. After a presentation given … Read morePrivicons
Disconnect DB. We developed the privacy icons in partnership with a Mozilla-led working group, the images were designed by Ocupop. The icons are a work in progress — you can give feedback in our forum. Or, you can start applying the icons now.
Earlier this year, Mozilla convened a privacy workshop that brought together some of the world’s leading thinkers in online privacy. People from the FTC to the EFF were there to answer the question: What attributes of privacy policies and terms of service should people care about? This lead to a proposal presented for the W3C, … Read morePrivacy Icons: Alpha Release, Mozilla & Aza Raskin
A computer game retailer revealed that it legally owns the souls of thousands of online shoppers, thanks to a clause in the terms and conditions agreed to by online shoppers. The retailer, British firm GameStation, added the “immortal soul clause” to the contract signed before making any online purchases earlier this month. It states that … Read more7,500 Online Shoppers Unknowingly Sold Their Souls
Ryan Calo in Against Notice Skepticism in Privacy proposes that we consider Visceral Notice alternatives to language-based notice. Visceral Notice leads consumers to experience information rather than just telling them information. Think of road designers putting speed bumps onto the road, rather than signs saying to slow down. Ryan Calo lists off several types of … Read moreVisceral Notice Types
via Consumer Comprehension of Financial Privacy Notices – s70907-21-levy.pdf. This report describes the results of the second phase of a research project focusing on privacy notices that financial institutions are required to provide their customers under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA). The project goals were to better understand consumer comprehension of privacy notices and to assess … Read moreConsumer Comprehension of Financial Privacy Notices
via Against Notice Skepticism In Privacy (And Elsewhere) by Ryan Calo :: SSRN. What follows is an exploration of innovative new ways to deliver privacy notice. Unlike traditional notice that relies upon text or symbols to convey information, emerging strategies of “visceral” notice leverage a consumer’s very experience of a product or service to warn … Read moreAgainst Notice Skepticism In Privacy (And Elsewhere) by Ryan Calo
Laws can be hard to pass and easy to ignore. Regulators are increasingly turning to alternatives to law to influence citizen behavior. This Essay compares three methods that have particularly captured the imagination of scholars and officials in recent years. Much has been written about each method in isolation. This Essay considers them together in … Read moreCode, Nudge, or Notice? by Ryan Calo
