Empowering resignation there's an app for that

Abstract

There's an app for that is perhaps the defnitive rhetoric of our times. To understand how users navigate the trade-ofs involved in using apps that support a variety of everyday activities, we conducted scenario-based semi-structured interviews (n = 25). Despite the technical and regulatory mechanisms that are supposedly meant to empower users to manage their privacy, we found that users express an overarching feeling of resignation regarding privacy matters. Because these apps provide convenience and other benefts, as one participant put it, there is a very fne line that marks the divide between feeling empowered in the use of technology and coping with the discomfort and creepiness arising from invasive app behavior. Participants consistently expressed being resigned to disclose data even as they accepted personal responsibility for their own privacy. We apply the fndings to discuss the limits of empowerment as a design logic for privacy-oriented solutions.