2021/06/12 by Hadi Asghari, Asghari, Hadi, Thomas van Biemen +3
Computer Science · Medicine · Social Sciences · #Computers and Society (cs.CY) #Ethics in Clinical Research #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Privacy, Security, and Data Protection #Privacy-Preserving Technologies in Data
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2106.06844
openalex publication_date 2021/06/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
In recent years, numerous studies have used 'data subject access requests' in a collective manner, to tackle information asymmetries and shed light on data collection and privacy practices of organizations. While successful at increasing transparency, such studies are quite hard to conduct for the simple fact that right of access is an individual right. This means that researchers have to recruit participants and guide them through the often-cumbersome process of access. In this paper, we present an alternative method: to ask participants to delegate their right of access to the researchers. We discuss the legal grounds for doing this, the advantages it can bring to both researchers and data subjects, and present a procedural and technical design to execute it in a manner that ensures data subjects stay informed and in charge during the process. We tested our method in a pilot study in the Netherlands, and found that it creates a win-win for both the researchers and the participants. We also noted differences in how data controllers from various sectors react to such requests and discuss some remaining challenges.