Paper Summary
Title: The Slow Violence of Surveillance Capitalism: How Online Behavioral Advertising Harms People
Source: Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency
Authors: Yuxi Wu et al.
Published Date: 2023-06-12
Podcast Transcript
Hello, and welcome to paper-to-podcast! Today, we dive into a paper that I've only read 35 percent of, but trust me, it's a good one. It's called "The Slow Violence of Surveillance Capitalism: How Online Behavioral Advertising Harms People," authored by Yuxi Wu and colleagues. Published on the 12th of June, 2023, this paper reveals the dark side of online behavioral advertising and how it can harm us in ways we may not have realized. So, buckle up, because things are about to get creepy... and informative!
The study found that online behavioral advertising (OBA) harms people in four main ways: psychological distress, loss of autonomy, constriction of user behavior, and algorithmic marginalization and traumatization. In other words, those targeted ads you see while browsing the internet might be causing more than just a mild case of the heebie-jeebies.
Participants in the study reported feeling uncomfortable and unsettled by the specificity of targeted ads, which disrupted their normal browsing experience. The loss of autonomy made users feel powerless and lacking control over their personal data. OBA also led to altered user interactions with technology, as they felt the need to adjust their behaviors in response to perceived privacy violations. Lastly, algorithmic marginalization and traumatization occurred when ads targeted individuals based on sensitive personal characteristics or vulnerabilities, causing harm and distress.
One interesting finding was that participants often tried to guess where the targeted ads came from and questioned their own browsing behavior. Moreover, the researchers found that people tend to normalize the harms caused by OBA, creating a sense of resignation and helplessness. This highlights the need for researchers to recognize and address these harms in future work and develop strategies to protect users' privacy.
To conduct this research, the authors surveyed 420 participants who had indicated experiencing a privacy violation related to OBA. They analyzed the qualitative data using an inductive approach, which led them to identify four main types of harms arising from OBA. This process allowed them to provide a comprehensive categorization of OBA harms, making their findings highly relevant for future research and policy discussions.
However, the research might have limitations in terms of sample size and demographics of the participants, which could affect the generalizability of the findings. Also, the reliance on self-reported experiences might be subject to recall bias or social desirability bias.
Despite these limitations, the study has numerous potential applications, including informing the development of policies and regulations surrounding OBA to better protect users' privacy and well-being. Additionally, the research can guide the design of future advertising technologies and platforms, inspire educational initiatives to increase public awareness of OBA harms, and motivate further investigation into the broader societal implications of OBA and surveillance capitalism.
So, the next time you see a creepily specific ad while browsing the internet, remember that you're not alone – and that there's research out there working to address these issues and make the digital world a better place. You can find this paper and more on the paper2podcast.com website. Stay informed, stay safe, and happy browsing!
Supporting Analysis
The study found that online behavioral advertising (OBA) harms people in four main ways: psychological distress, loss of autonomy, constriction of user behavior, and algorithmic marginalization and traumatization. Participants reported feeling uncomfortable and unsettled by the specificity of targeted ads, which disrupted their normal browsing experience. Furthermore, the loss of autonomy made users feel powerless and lacking control over their personal data. OBA also led to altered user interactions with technology, as they felt the need to adjust their behaviors in response to perceived privacy violations. Lastly, algorithmic marginalization and traumatization occurred when ads targeted individuals based on sensitive personal characteristics or vulnerabilities, causing harm and distress. The study revealed that participants often tried to guess where the targeted ads came from and questioned their own browsing behavior. Moreover, the researchers found that people tend to normalize the harms caused by OBA, creating a sense of resignation and helplessness. This highlights the need for researchers to recognize and address these harms in future work and develop strategies to protect users' privacy.
The researchers conducted an online survey on Prolific, a crowd-work platform, to investigate and categorize people's lived experiences of harm from Online Behavioral Advertising (OBA). They initially screened 1,275 potential participants and recruited 420 participants who had indicated experiencing a privacy violation related to OBA. The main study was a short survey hosted on Qualtrics, in which participants were asked to share their recent impactful privacy-violating experiences with OBA. To analyze the qualitative data, the researchers applied an inductive approach. One member of the team read through each account, performed open coding, and iteratively updated the codebook. They then conducted an initial round of axial coding to consolidate codes into different types of reactions to online targeted advertising. Another researcher independently coded the data according to the codebook. Through multiple discussions, all team members consolidated and synthesized the concepts into broader categories.
The most compelling aspects of the research are its focus on understanding the real-life harms caused by online behavioral advertising (OBA) and the development of a typology of privacy harms based on empirical data from a large-scale survey. This study offers valuable insights into the negative effects of OBA on people's daily lives, beyond the mere perception of being "creepy" or invasive. The researchers followed best practices by employing an inductive approach to qualitative data analysis. They conducted an online survey with 420 participants who had previously indicated experiencing a privacy violation related to OBA. The researchers carefully analyzed the participants' accounts and iteratively updated the codebook, leading to the identification of four main types of harms arising from OBA. This process allowed them to provide a comprehensive categorization of OBA harms, making their findings highly relevant for future research and policy discussions. Moreover, the paper urges the Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAccT), Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and privacy research communities to consider the broader context of these harms and to work towards legitimizing these experiences as human experiences that warrant attention and mitigation. This call to action highlights the importance of recognizing and addressing the harms associated with OBA in order to create a more equitable and just digital environment.
The research might have possible limitations in terms of the sample size and the demographics of the participants, which could affect the generalizability of the findings. The study was conducted using an online survey on the Prolific platform, focusing on participants from the United States who were fluent in English and active users of Internet-based services. This may limit the applicability of the findings to other regions or populations with different cultural backgrounds or user habits. Another limitation could be the reliance on self-reported experiences, which might be subject to recall bias or social desirability bias. Participants might not accurately remember their experiences or might be hesitant to share sensitive information about their experiences with online behavioral advertising. Finally, as the study is based on survey data, it is more difficult to establish cause-and-effect relationships between online behavioral advertising and the various harms identified. Future research could include experimental or longitudinal designs to better understand the causal pathways leading to these harms and explore potential mitigating factors or interventions.
Potential applications of this research include informing the development of policies and regulations surrounding online behavioral advertising (OBA) to better protect users' privacy and well-being. By understanding the different types of harms caused by OBA, lawmakers and regulators can tailor their approach to address specific issues and reduce the negative impact on users. This research can also guide the design of future advertising technologies and platforms. For example, companies might develop less intrusive advertising methods that respect users' privacy and autonomy, or create tools that promote transparency and user control over their data. Furthermore, the study can be used to inform educational initiatives aimed at increasing public awareness of the harms caused by OBA. By understanding the range of experiences individuals have with targeted ads, educators and advocates can develop resources that help users recognize potential risks and take appropriate steps to protect their privacy. Finally, the research findings can inspire further investigation into the broader societal implications of OBA and surveillance capitalism, with particular focus on marginalized and vulnerable populations. Researchers in fields such as human-computer interaction, fairness, accountability, and transparency can use this study as a foundation for exploring the intersection of technology, privacy, and social justice.