Should I Agree? Delegating Consent Decisions Beyond the Individual

Obtaining meaningful user consent is increasingly problematic in a world of numerous, heterogeneous digital services. Current approaches (such as agreeing to Terms and Conditions) are rooted in the idea of individual control despite growing evidence that users do not (or cannot) exercise such control in informed ways. In this paper, we explore an alternative approach in which users can choose to delegate consent decisions to an ecosystem of third-parties including friends, experts, groups and AI entities. We present the results of a study in which we utilised a technology probe at a large international festival to explore initial public responses to this reframing – focusing in particular on when and to whom users would delegate such decisions. The results reveal substantial public interest in delegating consent and identify differing preferences depending on the privacy context, highlighting the need for alternative decision mechanisms beyond the current focus on individual choice.