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Study: Screenshots pose a “threat to both intimate and intellectual privacy”

UMSI Research. Protecting Private Communications through Law and Policy: The Case of the Screenshot Feature. Alexis Shore Ingber, Research Fellow.

Wednesday, 11/06/2024

By Noor Hindi

Are screenshots harmless tools or threats to our privacy? New research by University of Michigan School of Information postdoctoral research fellow Alexis Shore Ingber considers the privacy harms of the screenshot feature and highlights how this feature enables non consensual sharing of private information, leading to potential legal issues.

Ingber’s paper, “Protecting Private Communications through Law and Policy: The Case of the Screenshot Feature” was published in Communication Law and Policy and explores how judges and policymakers conceptualize and address the harms associated with screenshots of private communications.  

“Digital communication tools are critical for individuals seeking to exercise their right to free expression. However, expectations of privacy within these tools are not entirely predictable given the presence of the screenshot feature,” writes Ingber. “While the screenshot feature can be leveraged for benign purposes, such as to recall information at a later date, it has also been cited as a weapon for public shaming that is emotionally and physically destructive.”

Ingber’s paper calls attention to U.S law and policy, which does not consistently protect individuals from privacy violations caused by the screenshot feature on digital communication platforms. She argues that the “lack of attention to privacy maintenance on these platforms—and to the screenshot feature—poses a threat to both intimate and intellectual privacy.” 

Results from this paper highlight judge’s lofty thresholds for substantiating harm from screenshot collection and sharing of private content as well as their inconsistent definitions of “authorization” to digital records. Ingber underlines the Federal Trade Commission’s more nuanced approach to protecting against platforms’ enabling of violations to interpersonal privacy expectations, similar to that of the screenshot feature.

“Without privacy on messaging platforms, we may feel restricted from genuinely expressing ourselves which has implications for relationship development,” Ingber says. “In order for us to have a functioning digital world, people need to feel safe  interacting with basic communication tools.”

With a PhD in emerging media studies from Boston University, Ingber has long published research that is interested in the ethics, justice and fairness of emerging digital technologies. At UMSI, Ingber is  continuing to explore topics of privacy and trust in the context of emotion artificial intelligence with UMSI assistant professor Nazanin Andalibi

Read “Protecting Private Communications through Law and Policy: The Case of the Screenshot Feature” on Communication Law and Policy. 

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Learn more about UMSI postdoctoral research fellow Alexis Shore Ingber by visiting her UMSI profile and personal website

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