A way for people to have a verifiable record of their choice.
Implications of this moment
Experience layer
A record of a user’s chosen settings containing a verifiable record. Some people might call this a receipt or a digital proof. This is a way for people to have a shareable record of their decision. In this example, this content is delivered as part of a order confirmation email. Accompanying text should reaffirm expectations for how user’s experience may change as a result of their decision.
Considerations
Technology and data layer
This moment needs to generate a verifiable record that can be stored by the user and publisher. Storing non-personal information about the receipt in a transparency log provides strong guarantees that it has not been altered.
The record can be used by the user, publisher and third parties - such as a regulator - if there is a complaint about whether a decision has been respected.
A system like this could start with implementations in a single organisation, or a small group, and then scale to become an industry standard.
Considerations
Policy layer
This moment has the intent of providing greater confidence to the user that their decision will be respected and ways to complain if they believe it has not. It provides a way to improve the user experience, while getting ahead of the direction of policy travel.
Complaint mechanisms are an area that recent pieces of policy - such as the EU Digital Services Act, EU AI Act, and White House AI Bill of Rights - are expanding. We expect data protection policy and legislation will also provide more detail and explicit requirements in the coming years.
Considerations
Organisation layer
Effective planning, coordination, and communication among different teams are essential to ensure a smooth and successful rollout of this moment, while providing value and transparency to users.
