【题目】

The tracked society: Interdisciplinary approaches on online tracking

【作者】

René K?nig, University of Stuttgart

Steffen Uphues, University of Stuttgart

Verena Vogt, University of Stuttgart

Barbara Kolany-Raiser, University of Stuttgart

【摘要】

作为数字化发展中的重要力量，各种类型的网络追踪既给人们带来了希望，也同样引起了恐惧：一方面，网络追踪能够提供个性化内容，为用户和企业提供了新的机遇；另一方面，这种常常是面向无意识和不知情用户的全方位追踪以及数据处理上的不透明方式也引起了社会各界一定的警惕。我们如何才能更好地理解并且积极主动地去塑造新兴的“被追踪社会”？本期特刊旨在从多视角和学科出发阐释这些问题，本引言则简要概述了这一主题的内涵和特刊的内容。    

Online tracking in its various forms is a backbone of digitalization that has sparked hopes and fears alike: It opens up new opportunities for users and businesses as it enables individually targeted content. At the same time, the encompassing tracking of often unaware and ill-informed users and the opaque practices of data procession has alarmed critics from multiple sides. How can we better understand but also proactively and constructively shape the emerging Tracked Society? Our special issues seek to shed light on these questions from various perspectives and disciplines. In this introduction, we give a brief overview of the topic in general and our special issue in particular.

【题目】

Infrastructures of tracking: Mapping the ecology of third-party services across top sites in the EU

【作者】

Rasmus Helles, University of Copenhagen

Stine Lomborg, University of Copenhagen

Signe Sophus Lai, University of Copenhagen

【摘要】

如今，网站以模块化的方式运作，并将用户信息监测与数据化、安全功能和视频托管等工作外包给外部公司。在功能性（的提升）和用户行为的盈利方面，这种第三方服务（TPS）扮演了互联网发展的关键推动者角色。与批判性数据研究（critical data studies）和媒介系统分析（media systems analysis）不同，本文通过将第三方服务基础设施置于市场、文化差异和监管更广阔的环境内，加深了对其的理解。通过对28个欧盟国家排名前150位网站的研究，本文证明了欧盟不同地区和不同类型的网站在第三方服务的使用上有所差异，并将这种差异归因于语言、监管传统和网络业务间的差异。通过将用户行为数据的不同商业化形式与更广泛的社会和文化结构联系起来，这些见解或许能为当前有关监视资本主义（surveillance capitalism）和大数据的论争提供借鉴。

Today, websites operate in a modular fashion, outsourcing the surveillance and datafication of users to outside companies, along with security functions, video hosting, and so on. These third-party services (TPSs) function as key enablers of the web, with respect to functionality and the monetization of user activity. Departing from critical data studies and media systems analysis, the article contributes to understanding TPS infrastructures by placing these in a wider context of markets, cultural differences and regulation. Through a study of top-150 websites from the 28 EU countries, the article demonstrates how the use of TPSs varies between different parts of the region and different types of sites, and traces this variation to issues of language, regulatory traditions and differences in online businesses. These insights may inform current debates about surveillance capitalism and big data, by linking different forms of commodification of users’ behavioural data to broader social and cultural structures.

【题目】

Chilling effects and the stock market response to the Snowden revelations

【作者】

Mark Rosso, North Carolina Central University

ABM Nasir, North Carolina Central University

Mohsen Farhadloo, Concordia University

【摘要】

本研究分析了在爱德华·斯诺登曝光由美国国家安全局（NSA）所进行的全球互联网通信监视项目之后，个人互联网搜索行为和各项经济指标的变化。笔者将2013年6月斯诺登揭秘事件后个人搜索行为的急剧变化称为“斯诺登效应”，该效应属于寒蝉效应（chilling effect）*的一种。本文通过分析一个特殊的搜索引擎DuckDuckGo*的数据，以证明寒蝉效应的确存在。然而，对包括全美18家大型网络安全公司的股价在内的深入分析表明，斯诺登事件并未使股票市场产生动荡。但从网络安全服务购买者机会成本增加这一结果来看，网络安全支出数据的骤增对经济的损害依然存在。

*寒蝉效应（Chilling Effect）：指人民因畏惧法律惩罚或国家监管，放弃行使其正当权利的现象。

*DuckDuckGo是一个互联网搜寻引擎，其总部位于美国宾州Valley Forge市。DuckDuckGo强调在传统搜寻引擎的基础上引入各大Web 2.0站点 的内容。其办站哲学主张维护使用者的隐私权，并承诺不监控、不记录使用者的搜寻内容。

This study analyzes the changes in individuals’ Internet search behavior and economic variables following Edward Snowden’s revelation of National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance activities of global Internet communications. We refer to the abrupt changes in individual search behavior beginning in June 2013 following Snowden’s revelations as the “Snowden effect.” The “Snowden effect” is a form of chilling effect. Using data from a unique search engine, DuckDuckGo, we show that chilling effects indeed exist. However, further analysis including the stock prices of the largest cybersecurity companies demonstrate a muted market response to the revelations, while cybersecurity spending data suggest resulting economic harm in the form of increased opportunity costs of buyers of cybersecurity services.

【题目】

Vulnerability in a tracked society: Combining tracking and survey data to understand who gets targeted with what content

【作者】

Nadine Bol, Tilburg University

Joanna Strycharz, University of Amsterdam

Natali Helberger, University of Amsterdam

Bob van de Velde, University of Amsterdam

Claes H de Vreese, University of Amsterdam

【摘要】

尽管数据驱动的个性化（内容分发）策略已渗透至网络传播的所有领域，但其对于个体和整个社会的影响尚未被完全理解。本文以Facebook为例，综合网络追踪和自我报告的调查数据，对有针对性的内容分发算法进行了评估。笔者测试了用户特征（社会人口学特征和个体感知）与Facebook平台广告接触之间的关系。研究结果表明，社交媒体使用复杂的算法来定位特定的用户群体，在性别刻板印象和健康领域相关的问题上这一现象尤为突出。与健康相关的内容主要目标群体为年龄较大的用户、女性用户、对网络公司具有较高信任度的用户以及健康状况较差的用户。本研究首次证明，不公平的定向（推送）算法强化了刻板印象并造成了实际上的不平等。此外，本研究还为重新思考基于算法对目标用户群体的锁定引发的新的个体和社会的脆弱性问题提出了建议。   

While data-driven personalization strategies are permeating all areas of online communication, the impact for individuals and society as a whole is still not fully understood. Drawing on Facebook as a case study, we combine online tracking and self-reported survey data to assess who gets targeted with what content. We tested relationships between user characteristics (i.e. socio-demographic and individual perceptions) and exposure to branded content on Facebook. Findings suggest that social media use sophisticated algorithms to target specific groups of users, especially in the context of gender-stereotyping and health. Health-related content was predominantly targeted at older users, females, and at those with higher levels of trust in online companies, as well as those in poorer health conditions. This study provides a first indication of unfair targeting that reinforces stereotypes and creates inequalities, and suggests rethinking the impact of algorithmic targeting in creating new forms of individual and societal vulnerabilities.

【题目】

Tracking sex: The implications of widespread sexual data leakage and tracking on porn websites

【作者】

Elena Maris, Microsoft Research

Timothy Libert, Carnegie Mellon University

Jennifer R Henrichsen, University of Pennsylvania

【摘要】

本文探讨了色情网站的数据追踪和隐私（泄露）风险。笔者对22484个色情网站的分析表明，有93％的网站将会用户数据泄漏给第三方。笔者证实，对色情网站的数据追踪行为高度集中，基本由少数几家大公司进行。此外，笔者成功抓取了3856个网站（占色情网站总数的17％）的隐私政策，但是要理解这些政策的含义可能需要用户接受两年的大学教育。通过对样本域名的内容分析我们发现，其中44.97％的域名可能曝光或暗示了与用户相关的特定性别、性向认同或性癖好信息。从定量分析结果中，笔者发现了三个最主要的后果：（1）相比于其他类型的数据，色情数据泄漏的风险更高也更特殊；（2）（性数据的泄露）将对“脆弱”人群带来特殊的风险与影响；（3）为色情网站用户提供同意的复杂性，以及在这类线上的性互动中获得肯定性认可的必要性。 

This article explores tracking and privacy risks on pornography websites. Our analysis of 22,484 pornography websites indicated that 93% leak user data to a third-party. Tracking on these sites is highly concentrated by a handful of major companies, which we identify. We successfully extracted privacy policies for 3856 sites, 17% of the total. The policies were written such that one might need a 2-year college education to understand them. Our content analysis of the sample’s domains indicated 44.97% of them expose or suggest a specific gender/sexual identity or interest likely to be linked to the user. We identify three core implications of the quantitative results: (1) the unique/elevated risks of porn data leakage versus other types of data, (2) the particular risks/impact for “vulnerable” populations, and (3) the complications of providing consent for porn site users and the need for affirmative consent in these online sexual interactions.

【题目】

The emotive politics of digital mood tracking

【作者】

Luke Stark, Microsoft Research Montreal

【摘要】

通过设计价值分析（values in design, VID）*的方法，本文对两种情绪追踪应用软件（Moodscope和MoodPanda）进行了考察，以证明此类应用软件的特殊界面设计会影响用户的社交意识和自我形塑。这些人造物的设计特征标志着社会技术的定义和个体感觉的话语发生了更广维度上的变化，并以此使得新兴的情绪化政治（emotive politics ）在当代数字媒体技术中产生影响。

*设计价值分析（values in design, VID）：此概念是技术哲学和科学技术论（Science and technology studies, STS）与计算机科学的结合，将价值、道德和技术政治的持续对话结合到具体设计中。

*情绪化政治 (emotive politics) : “emotive”直译为“引起强烈情感的;令人情绪激动的”，情绪是个人参与政治生活的一部分，本文作者认为情绪化政治是当代数字化社会技术争论的基础。

Through a values in design (VID) analysis, this article assesses two mood-tracking apps (Moodscope and MoodPanda) to argue the particular interface design choices of these applications serve to influence their users’ sense of sociality and self-fashioning. The design features of these artifacts signal a broader shift in the sociotechnical definitions and discourses of the feeling of an individual, enabling an emergent emotive politics at work across contemporary digital media technologies.

【题目】

The practical and ethical challenges in acquiring and sharing digital trace data: Negotiating public-private partnerships

【作者】

Johannes Breuer, GESIS—Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences

Libby Bishop, GESIS—Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences

Katharina Kinder-Kurlanda, GESIS—Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences

【摘要】

电子设备的普及和人机互动频率的不断提高积累起了庞大的数字追踪数据。这些数据不仅为企业带来利好，使其可以利用这些数据进行服务或产品优化，人类行为的研究者们也对这些数据展现出了兴趣。由于大量数据为私有企业所有，并且数据收集需要遵守企业的服务条款，因此使用数字追踪数据进行的研究通常需要某种形式上的公私合作。私有企业和学术研究人员既有共同利益，也可能产生利益冲突。本文探讨了学术研究中使用数字追踪数据时公私合作伙伴关系的不同类型。基于对使用数字追踪数据的研究项目的一般考量和特殊性经验，笔者提出了对这些关系中共享和冲突利益进行识别并加以有效协商的策略。

The ubiquity of digital devices and the increasing intensity of users’ interactions with them create vast amounts of digital trace data. Companies use these data to optimize their services or products, but these data are also of interest to researchers studying human behavior. As most of these data are owned by private companies and their collection requires adherence to their terms of service, research with digital trace data often entails some form of public-private partnership. Private companies and academic researchers each have their own interests, some of which are shared, while others may conflict. In this article, we explore different types of private-public partnerships for research with digital trace data. Based on general considerations and particular experiences from a research project with linked digital trace data, we propose strategies for identifying and productively negotiating both shared and conflicting interests in these relationships.