A Scoping Review and Guidelines on Privacy Policy's Visualization from an HCI Perspective

Abstract

Privacy Policies are a cornerstone of informed consent, yet a persistent gap exists between their legal intent and practical efficacy. Despite decades of research proposing various visualizations, user comprehension remains low, and designs rarely see widespread adoption. To understand this landscape and chart a path forward, we synthesized 65 top-tier papers using a framework adapted from user-centered design lifecycles. Our analysis presented four findings of the field's evolution: (1) trade-off between information load and decision efficacy, which shows a shift from augmenting disclosures to cognitive load management, (2) co-evolutionary dynamic of design and automation, revealing that designs such as context-awareness drove automation needs, while LLM breakthroughs enable the semantic interpretation required to realize those designs, (3) tension between generality and specificity, highlighting the divergence between standardized solutions and the increasing necessity for specialized interaction in IoT and immersive environments, and (4) balancing stakeholder opinions, where visualization efficacy is constrained by the interplay of regulatory mandates, developer capabilities and provider incentives.