In "The Character of Consent," Meg Leta Jones delves into the fascinating and largely untold history of the web cookie—a seemingly simple technology that has profoundly shaped our online experience. Cookies are a ubiquitous part of our internet interactions, often popping up in consent forms that ask us to download them to our computers. But how effective are these forms of privacy protection? According to Jones, not very. Instead of promoting functionality, privacy, and decentralization, cookie technology has made the internet invasive, limited, and clunky.
Set for retirement in 2024, cookies are on their way out, but their story is far from over. Jones explores the major transnational conflicts around digital consent over the last twenty-five years, revealing that the policy controversy is not about information but about identity. She shifts the focus from how people consent to who exactly is consenting and to what.
“History matters. Meg Leta Jones shows us how in The Character of Consent, a clear and compelling transnational analysis of the evolving public policy debate over digital privacy.” - Richard R. John, author of Network Nation: Inventing American Telecommunications
Jones identifies three distinct areas of law packed into those cookie pop-ups: data protection law, where the data subject consents; communication privacy law, where the user consents; and consumer protection law, where the privacy consumer consents. Each area has unique histories, motivations, institutional structures, expertise, and strategies, leading to different roles for consent.
By tracing the origins of these legal characters within the history of computing, Jones provides new ways of understanding the core issues within the consent dilemma. More importantly, she offers bold new approaches for creating and adopting better tech policies in the future. "The Character of Consent" is an eye-opening book that challenges our understanding of digital consent and lays out a path for more effective and equitable technology policies.
Product Description:
The Character of Consent: The History of Cookies and the Future of Technology Policy" by Meg Leta Jones is published by The MIT Press and is scheduled for release on 18 June 2024. The book is written in English and spans 288 pages in paperback format. It has an ISBN-10 of 0262547945 and an ISBN-13 of 978-0262547949. The item weighs 363 grams and has dimensions of 15.88 x 1.88 x 22.86 cm.
The book is available for purchase on Amazon and other leading bookstores worldwide. Click here to buy: https://www.amazon.in/Character-Consent-History-Technology-Information/dp/0262547945
About the Author:
Meg Leta Jones serves as the Provost's Distinguished Associate Professor in the Communication, Culture & Technology program at Georgetown University. She is the author of "Ctrl+Z: The Right to Be Forgotten" and contributes as a core faculty member to the Science, Technology, and International Affairs program in Georgetown's School of Foreign Service. In addition, Jones holds affiliations with the Institute for Technology Law & Policy at Georgetown Law Center and is a faculty fellow at the Georgetown Ethics Lab.
“Who knew that the humble cookie contains the crumbs of so many of our internet-age dilemmas? Discover here the compelling, necessary backstory of how we arrived at a digital present that we never truly consented to.” - Sarah E. Igo, author of The Known Citizen: A History of Privacy in Modern America
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