Informed Consent in Social Media Use – The Gap between User Expectations and EU Personal Data Protection Law

Custers B.H.M., Hof S. van der, Schermer B.W., Appleby-Arnold S., Brockdorff & N. (2013), Informed Consent in Social Media Use. The Gap between User Expectations and EU Personal Data Protection Law, Script-ed: A Journal of Law and Technology 10(4): 435-457

23 Pages Posted: 4 Oct 2017

See all articles by Bart Custers

Bart Custers

Leiden University - Center for Law and Digital Technologies

Simone van der Hof

Leiden University - Leiden Law School

Bart Willem Schermer

Leiden Law School

Sandra Appleby-Arnold

University of Malta - Department of Cognitive Science

Noellie Brockdorff

University of Malta - Department of Cognitive Science

Date Written: 2013

Abstract

In this paper, user expectations with regard to privacy and consent when using social media are compared with the EU legal framework for personal data protection. This analysis is based on a set of criteria for informed consent distilled from an analytical bibliography. User expectations regarding these criteria are derived from survey results. For each of the criteria for informed consent it is assessed whether there exists legal provisions in the existing EU personal data protection law and in the proposed legal framework in this area. A gap analysis between user expectations regarding each criterion and the availability or absence of related legal provisions shows that many but not all aspects of consent are addressed in both the current and the proposed legislation. Furthermore, the EU personal data protection legislation only provides a very general scope regarding consent and does not contain many details on what adequate consent procedures should look like. There is, at some points, a disconnect between the abstract legal provisions and the concrete practical implementations in the architecture and privacy statements of social media. Suggestions for solving these disconnects are made by suggesting changes at a practical level, by adjusting the legal framework, or both. Finally, the limits of the current models for personal data protection and consent are discussed.

Keywords: Consent, Data Protection, Privacy, Social Media

Suggested Citation

Custers, Bart and van der Hof, Simone and Schermer, Bart Willem and Appleby-Arnold, Sandra and Brockdorff, Noellie, Informed Consent in Social Media Use – The Gap between User Expectations and EU Personal Data Protection Law (2013). Custers B.H.M., Hof S. van der, Schermer B.W., Appleby-Arnold S., Brockdorff & N. (2013), Informed Consent in Social Media Use. The Gap between User Expectations and EU Personal Data Protection Law, Script-ed: A Journal of Law and Technology 10(4): 435-457, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3047134

Bart Custers (Contact Author)

Leiden University - Center for Law and Digital Technologies ( email )

2300 RA Leiden, NL-2300RA
Netherlands

Simone Van der Hof

Leiden University - Leiden Law School ( email )

P.O. Box 9520
2300 RA Leiden, NL-2300RA
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://www.linkedin.com/vanderhof

Bart Willem Schermer

Leiden Law School ( email )

P.O. Box 9520
2300 RA Leiden, NL-2300RA
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://law.leidenuniv.nl/org/metajuridica/elaw/

Sandra Appleby-Arnold

University of Malta - Department of Cognitive Science

Malta

Noellie Brockdorff

University of Malta - Department of Cognitive Science

Malta

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