From Clicks to Consensus: A Collective Consent Approach to Online Privacy

A user's meaningful and informed consent is crucial for online systems to allow users to have autonomy and control over their data. Notice and consent, the de-facto standard for collecting consent, has been oft-criticized for not being effective at collecting users' consent. Other solutions have been proposed, but also have their shortcomings. Existing approaches to consent are all individualistic, but given that we are constantly immersed in a complex digital world, having every individual informed about data collection by multiple companies and making constant consent decisions has proven impractical. As individual approaches to consent do not work, a collective approach is worth exploring.We conceptualize how collective consent, a process that leverages citizens' assemblies, could be a way forward for consent. We describe the theoretical foundations behind this idea, demonstrate how it could replace notice and consent and be a method to collect consent in the generative AI context, discuss the need for shifting from an individual to collective approach to data governance, and lay out future work in this space.