ReEntrust project – new output

ReEntrust was a project led by the University of Oxford partnering the University of Nottingham and the University of Edinburgh. Funded by UKRI EPSRC, the project ran from 1/12/2018 until 31/5/2021 and explored explored technological opportunities for platforms to regain user trust and aimed to identify how that might be achieved in ways that were user-driven and responsible.

This paper in the Journal of Responsible Technology reports on ReEntrust qualitative work that explored the practical and emotional experiences of young people aged 13-17, using algorithmically-mediated online platforms. It demonstrates an RI-based methodology for responsible two-way dialogue with the public, through listening to young people’s needs and responding to their concerns. Participants discussed in detail how online algorithms work, enabling the young people to reflect, question, and develop their own critiques on issues related to the use of internet technologies. The paper closes with action areas from the young people for a fairer, usefully transparent and more responsible online environment. These actions include a desire to be informed about what data (both personal and situational) is collected and how, and who uses it and why, and policy recommendations for meaningful algorithmic transparency and accountability. Finally, participants claimed that whilst transparency is an important first principle, they also need more control over how platforms use the information they collect from users, including more regulation to ensure transparency is both meaningful and sustained.