From Privacy Legislation to Interface Design: Implementing Information Privacy in Human-Computer Interactions

Internet users are becoming more concerned about their privacy. In addition, various governments (most notably in Europe) are adopting strong privacy protection legislation. The result is that system developers and service operators must determine how to comply with legal requirements and satisfy users. The human factors requirements for effective privacy interface design can be grouped into four categories: (1) comprehension, (2) consciousness, (3) control, and (4) consent. A technique called ”Privacy Interface Analysis” is introduced to show how interface design solutions can be used when developing a privacy-enhanced application or service. To illustrate the technique, an application adopted by the Privacy Incorporated Software Agents consortium (PISA) is analyzed in which users will launch autonomous software agents on the Internet to search for jobs.