Exposing Privacy Deception with the Systems-Noise Model

The Problem: Informed Consent Is an Illusion in the Digital Age
Digital platforms today operate in an ecosystem where consent is not truly informed. From social media networks to e-commerce giants, companies deploy increasingly sophisticated methods to manipulate user decisions, exploit trust, and acquire personal data, often without clear, conscious consent or user understanding of the terms. What users believe to be informed decisions are, in reality, responses to strategically crafted digital environments filled with deceptive cues and misleading interfaces. Consent banners, cookie pop-ups, and privacy dashboards give the appearance of transparency and user control, but in practice . . .