A Scientific Approach to Tech Accountability

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2023

ISSN

0897-3393

Publisher

Harvard Law School

Language

en-US

Abstract

The Federal Trade Commission can only do so much to hold tech companies accountable. Enforcement agencies and the people they protect need help. One problem is that the inner workings of large organizations and complex algorithmically driven systems remain obscure and opaque while their privacy representations are voluminous and vague. In this Essay, we propose a scientific approach to tech accountability, where academic researchers can play a larger role in privacy policy. This approach involves surfacing a company’s privacy representations and statements, as well as measuring the actual behavior of their systems with respect to algorithms, user interfaces, and data processing.

We build upon our experience as a multi-disciplinary group of researchers trained in computer science, engineering, and law to explore how researchers can support the movement for tech accountability. In addition to detailing how researchers can surface a company’s privacy representations and measure the behavior of tech systems, we explore how to use scientific results for greater accountability, such as going public, working with regulators, filing Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practice (“UDAAP”) complaints and lawsuits, and taking advantage of data subject rights. We draw from our own research to demonstrate how this approach can be helpful, such as in uncovering significant discrepancies between privacy representations of tech companies and the actual behavior of their systems and devices. We conclude by calling for a more robust and long-term collaboration between researchers and regulators.

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