Consent and transparency key to help young people feel safe online: Reset Tech Australia

Organisational leaders should implement meaningful transparency and genuine consent to ensure their users – especially young people – feel safe online, according to Alice Dawkins, executive director at Reset Tech Australia. 

A new Reset Tech Australia report highlighted that 33 percent of young people did not trust their information was handled with care by a digital platform.

However, 67 percent of teenagers said trust could be improved if platforms offered them more transparency, for example, disclosing what personal data they are collecting and what they do with it.

Dawkins told Digital Nation young people want organisations to have straightforward and easy-to-understand private policies.

“They should commit to not selling or using the data they are entrusted with for any other than the stated purpose such as for advertising,” she said.

“We’ve done research previously that found ten of the most popular digital services accessed by Australia’s young people do not appear to present terms and conditions in accessible ways that promote meaningful consent.”

Dawkins explained young people also seem to employ design techniques that actively nudge users to act against their own best interest, also known as ‘dark patterns’.

“Given the heavy investment in design, copy and user experience across every other aspect of these platforms and services, it’s hard not to be cynical about this,” she added.

The young Aussies who were interviewed for the report said they felt a sense of unease whenever their privacy was invaded online, Dawkins noted.

“They have certain expectations when it comes to protecting their personal data from being used in ways they didn’t consent to but these aren’t currently being met,” she said.

“From feeling watched and recorded by their smart devices like a TV or fridge, to location tracking from dozens of companies, young people have a nuanced understanding of the ways in which their digital privacy is being violated. In the context of the Privacy Act review, they are a vital but oft-forgotten cohort and we would be wise to centre their experiences.”

Dawkins said to better regulate these platforms, the Privacy Act review proposals would be a “great start”.

“What’s proposed there for young Australians would set them up with a proper, robust mechanism for their information to be protected from highly extractive commercial incentives - getting us up to speed with international best-practice. Privacy issues and market dynamics are intensely interlinked in digital markets,” she said.

Organisations need to also understand how their platform design tactics affect young people’s wellbeing.

“When the government reviews the Online Safety Act, their hope is that there will be stronger protections against design features such as dark patterns, addictive algorithms and harmful content,” she said.

“Online platforms shouldn’t be left to their own devices to self-regulate. There should be regulator-drafted, enforceable standards.”