Pictograms for privacy agreements: exploring the use of pictograms to facilitate communication between users and data collecting entities (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Privacy agreements can foster trust between users and data collecting entities by reducing the fear of data sharing. Users typically identify concerns with their data privacy settings, but due to the complexity and length of privacy agreements, users opt to quickly consent and agree to the terms without fully understanding them. OBJECTIVE The study explored the use of pictograms as potential elements to assist in the transparency and explanation of privacy agreements. METHODS During the development of these pictograms, the Double Diamond design process was applied with three instances of user interaction and three iterations of pictograms. The testing was done using a comparative study between a control group (no pictograms) and an experimental group (with pictograms). The pictograms were individually tested to assess their efficacy using an Estimated Comprehension of Information Symbols Test. RESULTS With the addition of pictograms, the overall understanding improved by 13%, and the average time spent answering the questions decreased by 57.33 seconds. A 9% decrease in perceived user frustration was also reported by users. However, none of the pictograms passed the Estimated Comprehension of Information Symbols Test, with 7 being discarded immediately, and 5 requiring further testing to assess their efficacy. CONCLUSIONS The addition of pictograms appeared to improve users’ understanding of the privacy agreements, despite the pictograms needing further changes to be more understandable. This proves that with the aid of pictographic images, it is possible to make privacy agreements more accessible, encouraging trust and open communication to be fostered between users and data collecting entities.