Team for Research in
Ubiquitous Secure Technology

Citation
Nathaniel Good, Jens Grossklags, David Thaw, Aaron Perzanowski, Deirdre K. Mulligan, Joseph Konstan. "User Choices and Regret: Understanding Users' Decision Process about Consensually acquired Spyware". I/S: A Journal of Law and Policy for the Information Society, 2(2), January 2006.

Abstract
Spyware is software which monitors user actions, gathers personal data, and/or displays advertisements to users. While some spyware is installed surreptitiously, a surprising amount is installed on users' computers with their active participation. In some cases, users agree to accept spyware as part of a software bundle as a cost associated with gaining functionality they desire. In many other cases, however, users were unaware that they installed spyware, or of the consequences of that installation. This lack of awareness occurs even when the functioning of the spyware is explicitly declared in the end user license agreement (EULA). We demonstrate and argue that interface design can be a significant factor in eliciting informed consent and in supporting users in actively managing their own computer environments. This paper reviews the legal, technical, and design issues related to spyware and its installation. It reports on results of an experiment in which 31 users were asked to configure computers, deciding which software to install from a set of software that included disclosed spyware. The results suggest that current EULA interfaces do little to encourage informed decision-making and that simpler interfaces with key terms highlighted have potential to improve informed decision-making.

Electronic downloads

• http://www.is-journal.org/V02I02/2ISJLP283-Good%20et%20al.pdf

• HTML

  Nathaniel Good,  Jens Grossklags, David Thaw,  Aaron
  Perzanowski, Deirdre K. Mulligan, Joseph Konstan. <a
  href="http://www.truststc.org/pubs/61.html"
  >User Choices and Regret: Understanding Users' Decision
  Process about Consensually acquired Spyware</a>,
  <i>I/S: A Journal of Law and Policy for the
  Information Society</i>, 2(2), January 2006.

• Plain text

  Nathaniel Good,  Jens Grossklags, David Thaw,  Aaron
  Perzanowski, Deirdre K. Mulligan, Joseph Konstan. "User
  Choices and Regret: Understanding Users' Decision Process
  about Consensually acquired Spyware". <i>I/S: A
  Journal of Law and Policy for the Information
  Society</i>, 2(2), January 2006.

• BibTeX

  @article{GoodGrossklagsThawPerzanowskiMulliganKonstan06_UserChoicesRegretUnderstandingUsersDecisionProcess,
      author = {Nathaniel Good,  Jens Grossklags, David Thaw, 
                Aaron Perzanowski, Deirdre K. Mulligan, Joseph
                Konstan},
      title = {User Choices and Regret: Understanding Users'
                Decision Process about Consensually acquired
                Spyware},
      journal = {I/S: A Journal of Law and Policy for the
                Information Society},
      volume = {2},
      number = {2},
      month = {January},
      year = {2006},
      abstract = {Spyware is software which monitors user actions,
                gathers personal data, and/or displays
                advertisements to users. While some spyware is
                installed surreptitiously, a surprising amount is
                installed on users' computers with their active
                participation. In some cases, users agree to
                accept spyware as part of a software bundle as a
                cost associated with gaining functionality they
                desire. In many other cases, however, users were
                unaware that they installed spyware, or of the
                consequences of that installation. This lack of
                awareness occurs even when the functioning of the
                spyware is explicitly declared in the end user
                license agreement (EULA). We demonstrate and argue
                that interface design can be a significant factor
                in eliciting informed consent and in supporting
                users in actively managing their own computer
                environments. This paper reviews the legal,
                technical, and design issues related to spyware
                and its installation. It reports on results of an
                experiment in which 31 users were asked to
                configure computers, deciding which software to
                install from a set of software that included
                disclosed spyware. The results suggest that
                current EULA interfaces do little to encourage
                informed decision-making and that simpler
                interfaces with key terms highlighted have
                potential to improve informed decision-making. },
      URL = {http://www.truststc.org/pubs/61.html}
  }
  

Posted by Deirdre Mulligan on 17 Apr 2006.
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