Just ticking the box: A social informatics model of the consequences of consent

Given the societal diffusion, proliferation and ubiquity of computerised systems and platforms, it is generally perceived by consumers that systems and eBusiness platforms often pose a threat to the privacy of their supplied information (Srnicek, 2017; Andreotti et al., 2018). Furthermore, as we see the replacement of systems that were once manual and paper-based migrate to digital processes and information systems (Lunt et al., 2019), consent in the information era is reduced to ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ option, often in the form of a tick box. Additionally, despite the arrival of the General Data Protection Regulation in 2018 as means to provide protection in relation to data processing, we argue that there is a lack of transparency in relation to the intention of this data processing and secondary data use for the purposes of research and marketing, for example. In light of this, we argue that there exists an increasingly difficult challenge to establish a mutual understanding of what consent actually is and what the wider permutations of it represents and comprehends. The lack of mutual understanding, in a digital world that is becoming increasingly reliant on the perceived benefits of acquiring and processing large sets of data (Kitchin, 2014; Breidbach et al., 2019) is deeply problematic. It is not only problematic for the consumer, but also to system developers, platform owners, and data processors alike. To this end, this paper presents a model, derived from action research, which positions the concept of consent within a socio-technical framing. This model approaches consent, in the context of digital platforms and eBusiness and how it comes to be represented in information systems, as a socio-technical construct of moral orders that imbues the feelings, convictions and aspirations of the consumer as they are engaged in the use of digital systems. We offer that consent is merely approached as an attribute in a data model, rather than relaying the communicative understanding of the consumer. This model introduces the areas of information processing systems and information communication systems as two differing interpretations within which digital platforms can be perceived. We offer these two distinctions as a mechanism to explain and, more importantly, explore the notion of the governance of consent and how this comes to be manifested in information systems

Second Set of Spaces

This document describes the Gloss infrastructure supporting implementation of location-aware services. The document is in two parts. The first part describes software architecture for the smart space. As described in D8, a local architecture provides a framework for constructing Gloss applications, termed assemblies, that run on individual physical nodes, whereas a global architecture defines an overlay network for linking individual assemblies. The second part outlines the hardware installation for local sensing. This describes the first phase of the installation in Strathclyde University

Present and Future Thermal Regimes of Intertidal Groundwater Springs in a Threatened Coastal Ecosystem

In inland settings, groundwater discharge thermally modulates receiving surface water bodies and provides localized thermal refuges; however, the thermal influence of intertidal springs on coastal waters and their thermal sensitivity to climate change are not well studied. We addressed this knowledge gap with a field- and model-based study of a threatened coastal lagoon ecosystem in southeastern Canada. We paired analyses of drone-based thermal imagery with in situ thermal and hydrologic monitoring to estimate discharge to the lagoon from intertidal springs and groundwater-dominated streams in summer 2020. Results, which were generally supported by independent radon-based groundwater discharge estimates, revealed that combined summertime spring inflows (0.047 m3 s-1) were comparable to combined stream inflows (0.050m3 s-1). Net advection values for the streams and springs were also comparable to each other but were 2 orders of magnitude less than the downwelling shortwave radiation across the lagoon. Although lagoon-scale thermal effects of groundwater inflows were small compared to atmospheric forcing, spring discharge dominated heat transfer at a local scale, creating pronounced cold-water plumes along the shoreline. A numerical model was used to interpret measured groundwater temperature data and investigate seasonal and multi-decadal groundwater temperature patterns. Modelled seasonal temperatures were used to relate measured spring temperatures to their respective aquifer source depths, while multi-decadal simulations forced by historic and projected climate data were used to assess long-term groundwater warming. Based on the 2020-2100 climate scenarios (for which 5-year-averaged air temperature increased up to 4.32°), modelled 5-year-averaged subsurface temperatures increased 0.08-2.23° in shallow groundwater (4.2 m depth) and 0.32-1.42 degrees in the deeper portion of the aquifer (13.9 m), indicating the depth dependency of warming. This study presents the first analysis of the thermal sensitivity of groundwater-dependent coastal ecosystems to climate change and indicates that coastal ecosystem management should consider potential impacts of groundwater warming