Chapter 1: User Beware! The Dark Side of Digital Technologies

This chapter explores the negative aspects of digital technologies by exploring 10 topics that affect people across the world. These issues include privacy invasion and data misuse, cyberbullying, Internet Addiction, disinformation and misinformation, financial exploitation, fraud and extortion, location tracing and physical safety, algorithmic biases and discrimination, body image and bodily harm, and gig employment and economic exploitation. Although these 10 topics are not exhaustive, they do reflect concerns related to digital technologies and platforms that organisations, consumers, and nations must solve. As such, the authors provide organisations with potential solutions to each negative issue, with the limitation that no single solution will solve the stated problem. In many cases, the authors advise organisations to maintain clear and open policies in order to keep their present and potential users informed about policies. Furthermore, the authors encourage organisations to collaborate with local governments and law enforcement agencies to safeguard consumers from potential damage as well as when they are confronting personal danger related to a digital platform. Finally, the authors advise organisations to use artificial intelligence to monitor their sites in real time to detect any irregularities that could endanger users.