Dr. Megan Ma

Power and information asymmetries between people and digital technology companies are further legitimized through contractual agreements that fail to provide meaningful consent and contestability. In particular, the Terms-of-Service (ToS) agreement, is a contract of adhesion where companies effectively set the terms and conditions of the contract. Whereas, ToS reinforce existing structural inequalities, we seek to enable an intersectional accountability mechanism grounded in the practice of… Show more

Power and information asymmetries between people and digital technology companies are further legitimized through contractual agreements that fail to provide meaningful consent and contestability. In particular, the Terms-of-Service (ToS) agreement, is a contract of adhesion where companies effectively set the terms and conditions of the contract. Whereas, ToS reinforce existing structural inequalities, we seek to enable an intersectional accountability mechanism grounded in the practice of algorithmic reparation. Building on existing critiques of ToS in the context of algorithmic systems, we return to the roots of contract theory by recentering notions of agency and mutual assent. We evolve a multipronged intervention we frame as the Terms-we-Serve-with (TwSw) social, computational, and legal framework. The TwSw is a new social imaginary centered on: (1) co-constitution of user agreements, through participatory mechanisms; (2) addressing friction, leveraging the fields of design justice and critical design in the production and resolution of conflict; (3) enabling refusal mechanisms, reflecting the need for a sufficient level of human oversight and agency including opting out; (4) complaint and algorithmic harms reporting, through a feminist studies lens and open-sourced computational tools; and (5) disclosure-centered mediation, to disclose, acknowledge, and take responsibility for harm, drawing on the field of medical law. We further inform our analysis through an exploratory design workshop with a South African gender-based violence reporting AI startup. We derive practical strategies for communities, technologists, and policy-makers to leverage a relational approach to algorithmic reparation and propose there's a need for a radical restructuring of the “take-it-or-leave-it” ToS agreement. Show less

In this paper, we argue that nuanced expert annotation often requires a significant rethinking of the traditional paradigms of data annotation. In a small pilot study, we find that even the most highly trained experts demonstrate significant heterogeneity in their evaluation of the document-level coherence of bespoke contracts. The outcomes of our study provide preliminary considerations of how paradigms of document annotation should fully utilize expert annotations in bespoke contexts.

Elasticity offers contractual parties the linguistic space to manage the unknown. While this has historically operated as a powerful tool in negotiation, elasticity has also behaved as a double-edged sword. That is, elastic language facilitates the present, but does not account for the future. In this article, we consider that by understanding the role of vagueness in contracts, and in effect, making the implicit explicit, it may be more rewarding strategically for contractual parties in the… Show more

Elasticity offers contractual parties the linguistic space to manage the unknown. While this has historically operated as a powerful tool in negotiation, elasticity has also behaved as a double-edged sword. That is, elastic language facilitates the present, but does not account for the future. In this article, we consider that by understanding the role of vagueness in contracts, and in effect, making the implicit explicit, it may be more rewarding strategically for contractual parties in the long term. Specific to the context of reinsurance, we notice that elasticity may be regarded as a mirror to negotiation dynamics, traceable by the linguistic complexity of contractual clauses. Therefore, a determination of elasticity, through a diagnostic tool, can offer insights to enable for more intentional drafting and certainty at the contract performance stage. Show less

The relationship between law and language has always been one born of necessity. Language is often conceived as the vehicle in which legal norms could embed itself. In confrontation with legal automation, technologies that harness algorithms to perform banal tasks translate “legalese” from common standards into code. Effectively, machines are interpreting the language of legal processes into its own understandable terms. This begs the question: how does the “code-ification” of legal language… Show more

The relationship between law and language has always been one born of necessity. Language is often conceived as the vehicle in which legal norms could embed itself. In confrontation with legal automation, technologies that harness algorithms to perform banal tasks translate “legalese” from common standards into code. Effectively, machines are interpreting the language of legal processes into its own understandable terms. This begs the question: how does the “code-ification” of legal language differ from existing legal practice? More importantly, does this change the inherent character of the law? This article discusses broadly the technological environment in which code may shape the law. Show less

The paper seeks to capture the role of innovation in the electoral realm; more specifically, to understand the inherent tensions found between technological innovation and the voting process. It has been contested that voting mechanisms have faced little to no challenge to innovate; that instead, voting procedures are rather unsusceptible to the pressures of technological change. This appears as peculiar given that technology has had the capacity to permeate and implant itself across nearly all… Show more

The paper seeks to capture the role of innovation in the electoral realm; more specifically, to understand the inherent tensions found between technological innovation and the voting process. It has been contested that voting mechanisms have faced little to no challenge to innovate; that instead, voting procedures are rather unsusceptible to the pressures of technological change. This appears as peculiar given that technology has had the capacity to permeate and implant itself across nearly all facets of society. What makes elections – specifically the voting process – untouchable by technological innovation? Are structures inherent to voting and the voting process unique relative to other forms of life? Show less

Breaking the stigma on the fulfillment of campaign promises and its use as an effective tool for accountability: from the campaign trail to the term(s) in office with a focus on the Canadian electoral climate

Campaign promises affect voters' expectations about what policies will be chosen by an elected official, providing a benchmark for voters to link policy decisions with future re-election. Campaigns are often considered the most direct point of contact between politicians and the electorate over matters of public policy. In liberal democracies, governments are responsible and bound to the interests of their citizens. Voters may condition future elections based on whether or not the incumbent… Show more

Campaign promises affect voters' expectations about what policies will be chosen by an elected official, providing a benchmark for voters to link policy decisions with future re-election. Campaigns are often considered the most direct point of contact between politicians and the electorate over matters of public policy. In liberal democracies, governments are responsible and bound to the interests of their citizens. Voters may condition future elections based on whether or not the incumbent candidate has fulfilled the promise made from the past election. If the candidate has shown to renege on promises, the electorate has the power to punish candidates by voting them out of office. This, then, is a mechanism of accountability to ensure that promises are kept and creates congruence between the vote and the expected policy. The degree to which elected officials keep their promises have strong implications on democratic accountability and also places significant value to voting. Show less