Chapter 25: Design + power: policy for the ecology of influence

This chapter considers the influence of design and the design of systems and how policies such as the GDPR and other regulations attempt to reorient the power inherent in these systems. Specifically, this chapter examines how newer legislation focused on the design of AI systems might impact the interactions between users and organizations. Using dark patterns, also called deceptive design, or designs of systems, focusing on obtaining something of value that, under ordinary circumstances, would not have been obtained, as a context, this chapter examines how policymakers might take an ecological approach in considering technology for better informed policy. This kind of approach recognizes the complexity of the data and technology ecosystem and emphasizes consideration of the various things that shape how individuals and organizations interact in the technological environment.