Research indicates that interactions with law enforcement, determinative of access to justice is far from positive for racial minorities and women and is often characterized by suspicion,... Show moreResearch indicates that interactions with law enforcement, determinative of access to justice is far from positive for racial minorities and women and is often characterized by suspicion, unfriendliness and dismissal of complaints. This conduct is not easily captured by prohibitive regulation although it can amount to discrimination proscribed by equality laws. Training, monitoring and codes of conduct have had limited effect. This book, therefore, explores another approach to legally compliant behaviour, a lens which focuses on the internalization of norms underlying laws and regulations, through persuasive technology. Drawing from the nudge theory, as well as Lessig's articulation of the influence of norms and architecture on behaviour, this book takes an interdisciplinary approach, rooted in a broader view of the law's impact on human cognition and decision making and technology's impact on behaviour. The inter-disciplinary lens combines an understanding of the cognitive and organizational factors driving discrimination with behaviour change theories such as the social identity theory, and technological artefacts like conversational agents that can influence behaviour, to proffer an alternative solution. This work constitutes the first steps towards addressing discriminatory behaviour by leveraging the ubiquity and versatility of technology to regulate behaviour in accordance with the law and its intentions. Show less
Previous regulatory models for the online environment have been designed with a foundation and premise that users are fictional Homo Economicus – beings capable of optimizing all available... Show morePrevious regulatory models for the online environment have been designed with a foundation and premise that users are fictional Homo Economicus – beings capable of optimizing all available information into order to make sound decisions. Sometime these decisions will be rational and predictable. However, on other occasions users will make irrational, yet predictable mistakes; other times those errors will be unpredictably irrational. To overcome these shortcomings in rational economist models, behavioural economists like Daniel Kahneman, Amos Tversky and Richard Thaler and lawyers like Cass Sunstein have advocated using lessons from psychology to help people make better decisions. By deploying 'choice’ architecture to overcome less than rational decisions, Homo Sapiens can be 'nudged' to making better choices. Building from this foundation, our paper inquires what role big data may play in developing better regulation. For example, can insights from big data help to overcome erroneous assumptions that regulators may make about the way users rationally behave in online environments? What potential is there for harnessing ‘big data’ to provide insights into user behaviour? Can big data be used as an additional tool by lawmakers to improve regulatory settlements? Show less
