"Developers are Responsible": What Ad Networks Tell Developers About Privacy

Mohammad Tahaei, Kami E Vaniea

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract / Description of output

Advertising networks enable developers to create revenue, but using them potentially impacts user privacy and requires developers to make legal decisions. To understand what privacy information ad networks give developers, we did a walkthrough of four popular ad network guidance pages with a senior Android developer by looking at the privacy-related information presented to developers. We found that information is focused on complying with legal regulations, and puts the responsibility for such decisions on the developer. Also, sample code and settings often have privacy-unfriendly defaults laced with dark patterns to nudge developers' decisions towards privacy-unfriendly options such as sharing sensitive data to increase revenue. We conclude by discussing future research around empowering developers and minimising the negative impacts of dark patterns.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationExtended Abstracts of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '21)
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Number of pages11
ISBN (Electronic)9781450380959
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 8 May 2021
EventACM SIGCHI 2021 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Yokohama, Yokohama, Japan
Duration: 8 May 202113 May 2021
https://chi2021.acm.org/

Conference

ConferenceACM SIGCHI 2021 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Abbreviated titleCHI ’21
Country/TerritoryJapan
CityYokohama
Period8/05/2113/05/21
Internet address

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • software developers
  • usable privacy
  • ad networks

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