Ich stimme zu
The installation Ich stimme zu (I consent) visualizes the digital footprint of smart home devices using the data produced by a robot vacuum cleaner.
Robot vacuum cleaners navigate using various sensors to detect obstacles and surfaces. Cameras, LIDAR, ultrasonic, and infrared sensors collect data about the immediate environment; this data is then used to create room plans, detect objects and identify dirt. Such sensor data, including IP addresses, browser and location data, is sent to the data centers of manufacturers or service providers, where it is processed to provide certain functions. Too often, the collected data is also used beyond the actual services – for third party advertising, or sometimes it is even sold to data brokers.
“I consent” – a phrase that everyone has clicked on at some point, usually without reading the associated “terms and conditions”. With the numerous devices and digital services that require such permission, this is hardly surprising – nowadays, it is almost impossible to live without them. But many people are unaware of how much they are revealing as a result of their consent.
Almost every provider of digital services collects personalized data. Although popular brands now rely on security measures such as encryption, hackers and cybersecurity researchers have repeatedly succeeded in gaining access to data or even taking control of devices in the past.
However, the problem goes beyond external threats such as hackers – the manufacturers themselves may also have a keen interest in this personal information. Collected images and sensor data, combined with the generated room plan, allow conclusions about the device owners' lives, such as their income and relationship status. Such personal information could be used, for example, to assess consumer behavior and place targeted and manipulative advertising.
In this installation, each time the robot vacuum sends data to the manufacturer, the next sentence of a pseudo contract is generated and printed on continuous paper using a dot matrix printer. The masses of paper that accumulate on the floor give sense to how much personal data is being collected.
The generated text resembles that of a typical user agreement – long, convoluted sentences with difficult to understand technobabble. Upon closer inspection, however, it becomes clear that the text only imitates the appearance of terms of use, without any meaning or coherence. This further illustrates that these texts are meant for easy comprehension, but rather to be as legally compliant as possible, making them unintelligible to most people. A Markov chain, an early text generating algorithm, was used to create the printet texts. It had been feed with the real “terms of use” of common robot vacuum cleaner manufacturers to credibly reflect the vocabulary and sentence structures of such documents.
Category
- Art
- Design Research
- Generative Design
- Data Visualisation
Collaborators
- Alexander Kremser
Exhibition
