A bipartisan Senate bill introduced Tuesday by senators Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Mark R. Warner (D-VA) aims to ban social networks' social engineering tricks.
The Deceptive Experiences To Online Users Reduction (DETOUR) Act
takes aim at some of the sneakier tactics social media companies use to coerce people into handing over their personal information. It would also prohibit the companies from choosing groups of people for behavioral experiments without first obtaining informed consent.
Additionally larger Online platforms (those with with over 100 million active users within a month) "would also be prohibited from designing addictive games for children under the age of 13."
These behaviors have been dubbed "Dark Patterns" referring to:
online interfaces in websites and apps designed to intentionally manipulate users into taking actions they would otherwise not take under normal circumstances. These design tactics, drawn from extensive behavioral psychology research, are frequently used by social media platforms to mislead consumers into agreeing to settings and practices advantageous to the company.
The bill also addresses practices which make it unnecessarily difficult to take the privacy-conscious route in configuring settings, provide nosy defaults, as well as other methods of (mis)leading users into providing data
The Senate Commerce Committee is currently drafting a national data privacy bill that this may be rolled into.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 15 2019, @05:42AM (1 child)
Oh! But it's bipartisan! Yeah, both sides are fascists!
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday April 15 2019, @02:44PM
Bipartisan in order to send a message.
If the population is to be brainwashed, misinformed and divided, then politics must be the core focus.
The people who rely on government handouts and refuse to work should be kicked out of congress.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Monday April 15 2019, @05:53AM (2 children)
1. all cookies are session cookies, unless the user EXPLICITLY opts in to persistent cookies
2. no tracking unless the user EXPLICITLY opts in to tracking
3. no exceptions
I think that pretty much falls in line with Europe's laws?
And, nothing is truly lost to the advertising industry, is it? If the industry offers the consumer something in exchange for tracking, many consumers, and maybe even most, will opt in. We see that already with all the cash rewards cards, fuel rewards cards, high miler accounts, etc ad nauseum. But, those of us who are at least minimally savvy won't be bothered with the industry's bullshit.
It may require a separate law, but the same requirements need to be applied to the telecom industry. Sure, the cell phone system needs to track me to some extent, so that it knows how to route my telephone call. There is no reason that tracking has to be logged, or that the logs must be persistent. Logs should be retained for six hours or less, in regards to tracking.
And, since we're working our way toward utopia, one more law: law enforcement agencies must actually get a warrant before they can track anyone. That is, a real warrant, from a real judge, out here in the real world - NOT some secret warrant from a secret court.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 15 2019, @08:51AM (1 child)
These can be solved technically more easily than they can be solved legally. How do you stop logging who downloads the image for the like button?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 15 2019, @10:07AM
With for example the uMatrix extension.
(Score: 4, Informative) by c0lo on Monday April 15 2019, @06:16AM
You have to be kidding me.
Do you remember Happy Meal [huffingtonpost.com]?
Once you are groomed into a consumer, others will exploit the same behaviour and online social platforms aren't alone. For example, retailers turn everyday items into ‘must-have’ collectables [marketingmag.com.au]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 4, Informative) by Bot on Monday April 15 2019, @07:13AM (4 children)
Shouldn't the title be "rein in" instead?
Account abandoned.
(Score: 3, Funny) by c0lo on Monday April 15 2019, @08:03AM
Nah, TFT is correct, the US Senate aims to be the best in deceptive social media practices, that's their KPI. As in 'reign supreme'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Monday April 15 2019, @02:46PM (2 children)
How about rain in?
The people who rely on government handouts and refuse to work should be kicked out of congress.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 15 2019, @08:04PM (1 child)
Stop it, or I'll sick Rayne on you. BloodRayne.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday April 15 2019, @08:52PM
Okay as long as there are no inappropriate systemd comments.
The people who rely on government handouts and refuse to work should be kicked out of congress.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 15 2019, @07:19AM
So, one more click-through agreement 20 to 100 pages long nobody will actually read?
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Monday April 15 2019, @07:31AM
Oops [wired.com]. Unlike Zynga [time.com], who has a psychologist on staff for this very purpose.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 15 2019, @05:45PM
so now the windows and iphone users in congress are going to design our apps from DC. i will not comply, not that this bill effects my applications.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 15 2019, @08:51PM
*rein
https://www.englishgrammar.org/reign-vs-rein/ [englishgrammar.org]