Accepted paper is:

Let’s Get Visual - Testing Visual Analogies and Metaphors for Conveying Privacy
Policies and Data Handling Information
Authors: Verena Zimmermann, Adrienn Toth, Hannah Sievers, Linda Fanconi, Yanis Isenrin ( ETH Zürich);
Mona Henz, Alina Stöver, Nina Gerber (TU Darmstadt)
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About the paper
People often find privacy policies confusing and hard to understand, making it difficult to give truly informed consent when sharing their personal data. In their study with nearly 400 participants, the researchers tested whether using visual metaphors—like a house to represent safe data storage and boats or cars to visualize data flows —and providing dynamic feedback that shows the consequences of privacy choices in real time could help users better understand data practices. While visuals and feedback didn’t significantly change participants’ choices compared to text, both were rated as more engaging and helpful, with participants especially appreciating the clarity and appeal of the visuals – suggesting such approaches could make privacy decisions more approachable in tools like cookie banners and mitigate privacy fatigue.

This paper was developed within the ATHENE project, PIONEER, in the User-Centred Security and Privacy (UCSP) research area. The project addresses the issue of insufficient data protection awareness among the population by developing a motivating app to help different user groups make better decisions about their digital privacy.

S&P 2025 took place from May 12–15, 2025 in San Francisco, USA.

 

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