文章基本信息

标题：Notified But Unaware: Third-Party Tracking Online
本地全文：下载
作者：Stefan Larsson ; Anders Jensen-Urstad ; Fredrik Heintz 等
期刊名称：Critical Analysis of Law
印刷版ISSN：2291-9732
出版年度：2021
卷号：8
期号：1
页码：101-120
语种：English
出版社：Critical Analysis of Law
摘要：Drawing from conceptual studies on transparency, particularly with regard to market complexity, user literacy and resignation, this article studies and analyzes the practices of third-party data collection online. Empirically, we map third-party trackers on a sample of Swedish websites in five sectors (media, retail, banking/insurance, public sector, and health), and the trackers are compared to lists of known trackers to determine their main purpose. These results are then used in digital focus groups divided into high-trust and low-trust individuals, to better understand how everyday consumers perceive and cope with the tracking infrastructure. The main results indicate that third-party tracking is omnipresent online, particularly for media and retail sites, showing that data-driven markets depend on the collection, sharing and trade of consumers’ personal data. Furthermore, despite regulatory provisions promoting clearer notifications and designs within the EU, many users are still highly unaware of the data collection practices and their underlying purposes. The results indicate a weak consent base for data collection and a market structure and data collecting practices that are highly non-transparent. We recommend more active supervisory authorities, and more stringent requirements primarily in relation to the obscure ad tech infrastructures to improve transparency and promote consumer awareness.