This document summarizes a webinar on trust in digital policy. It discusses the etymology and definitions of trust, examining the difference between trust and trustworthiness. It explores why trust has become a major focus, and frameworks for understanding trust concepts. An applied ethics case study looks at trust issues regarding data. Key questions addressed include how user trust can be restored, and the roles of different stakeholders like governments and companies.

1. D E S I R E E M I L O S H E V I C
D I P L O A L U M N I
T U E S D A Y , J U L Y 1 8 T H 2 0 1 6
WEBINAR ON THE ROLE OF TRUST IN
DIGITAL POLICY
CASE STUDY: APPLIED ETHICS IN IG
INSTITUTIONS DEALING WITH
GLOBAL RESOURCES

2. AGENDA
• Trust etymology
• Trust vs trustworthiness
• Why is there so much focus on trust?
• Trust concepts and frameworks
• Applied ethics case study – data
• Role of Trust for Digital Policy?
• Can users’ trust be restored?
• What are stakeholders’ roles?
• Q&A

3. ETYMOLOGY OF WORD TRUST
• Origin
Old Norse –> traustr –> traust –> treysta: strong
-> Trust - Middle English
• C 1200, "reliance on the veracity, integrity, or other
virtues of someone or something; religious faith,"
from Old Norse traust "help, confidence, protection,
support," from Proto-Germanic abstract noun
*traustam (source also of Old Frisian trast, Dutch
troost "comfort, consolation," Old High German trost
"trust, …Gothic trausti "agreement, alliance"

4. TRUST

5. TRUST VS TRUSTWORTHINESS
• Research into the roles of trust in our society broad range of
often conflicting theories. Some theorists maintain that trust is a
social virtue that cannot be reduced to strategic self-interest;
trusting another person is ultimately a rational calculation
based on information about that person and his or her
incentives and motivations.
• our trust in persons whom we believe to have strong reasons*
to act in our best interests.
“We are correct when we assume that the main incentive of
those whom we trust is to maintain a relationship with us—
whether it be for reasons of economic benefit or for love and
friendship. “I trust you to be trustworthy – type of trust we place
in individuals or institutions”

6. TRUST VS TRUSTWORTHINESS
• Hardin also makes an important differentiation
between the trust and trustworthiness (Hardin,
2006)explaining that
1. trust is a positive belief that does not need to be
proven
2. whereas trustworthiness is an earned quality,
representing someone reliable, proven and honest

7. WHY IS TRUST THE HOTTEST SUBJECT
IN IG?
• After Snowden revelations, there is a growing anxiety among Internet users
(See: Desiree Miloshevic, Crisis of Trust, Crisis of Accountability 24 june14-
en.pdf)
• Safety and Privacy of citizens is at stake, 45% are changing the way to use the
Internet
• Trust is on top of the mind of all users but also government policy
• “We are at risk of undoing all the progress we have made on the Internet”
Kathy Brown, OECD Ministerial
• https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/02/24/internet-privacy-protecting-
consumers-building-trust-creating-jobs
• Framework of Trust: trusted networks/ technologies/ users / ecosystem
See: https://www.internetsociety.org/sites/default/files/IG%20and%20Trust%20-
%20BoT%20June%202016%20-%20Final-R.pdf)

8. TRUST IS…
Can trust be measured?
Trust is a subjective matter … Trust is contextual…
Need to separate normative questions of Ethics and Trust
from questions coming from psychology and other
sciences (e.g. individuals don’t recognize it until it’s lost)
We can only study how is trust perceived to get a more
objective insight
What kind of perceived trust is required for digital policies?

9. HOW MUCH TRUST IS THERE?
Trust fell in businesses sector from 59% to 57%
Non- Governmental Organisations (NGOs) from 66% to
63%
Media (from 53% to 51%) between 2014 and 2015
Only trust in governments rose during this time (from 45% to
48%), but they were still perceived as the most
untrustworthy form of organisation in the study.
Source: The Edelman Trust Barometer 2015

10. restoring USERS’ TRUST IN?
• Networks (Infrastructure) Layer I
• Technologies (Protocol and Application Layers: Layer II
and II
• Companies, on-line platforms and devices!
(facebook, gmail, laptops, tablets, mobile phones,
desktops )
• Cloud services, ISPs
• Internet governance Institutions
• National governments
“Trust takes years to build, seconds to break and forever to
repair.”

11. TRUST AND APPLIED ETHICS
ETHICS &
RELATIONSHIPS
NORMATIVE
1. INERNET USERS vs INTERNET USERS
e.g. bullying, online violence
2. INTERNET USERS vs
CORPORATIONS
3. USERS/MEMBERS vs INTERNET
GOVERNANCE INSTITUTIONS
e.g. USERS and DNS policies in
ICANN e.g. MEMBERS OF RIRs
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
NORMATIVE
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
USERS/CITIZENS AND THE STATE -
Governments
e.g. Snowden revelations
CORPORATIONS AND
GOVERNMENTS

12. IMPORTANT SEPARATION
Ethical and Normative
Level:
How things should
ideally look like with
regards to trust, if we
were completely
rational beings?
Empirical and
Pshychological
How things currently
are with regards to
perception of trust in
real life, since there is
always a lack of
information, unrealistic
beliefs and
expectations, personal
interests, and unequal
power relations
between stakeholders

13. SECURITY AND TRUST – David CLARK
• On July 16, 1992, Prof. David Clark articulated what would become the
creed of the Internet engineering community. He was giving a
presentation A Cloudy Crystal Ball: A Vision into the Future at the IETF. It
was era of turmoil and uncertainty as the privatization of the Internet
(the transformation of the Internet from NSFNET to commercial
networks) was in its infancy.
“We Reject: Kings, Presidents, and Voting.
We Believe in: Running Code and Rough Consensus
Our best success was not computing, but hooking people together!
The hacks of today are the commonplace of tomorrow!
Security is a CRITICAL problem!
What we should do: Fix insecure services: PASSWORDS, etc.
The problem is assigning the correct degree of fear to distant
elephants.
If we have a problem it is due to too much success.”
See http://cybertelecom.blogspot.de/2016/07/1992-july-16-david-clark-
articulates.html

14. WHAT ARE THE ROLES OF STKHDRS?
• There is no one treaty that would fix this or legislation that
would solve issue of trust
• Can’t just focus on technology, we need to take in law
and global politics
• Commercial interests have impact on the IG ecosystem
not necessarily good for the Internet e.g, botnets, ISPs –
slowing traffic
• Commercial aspects are not apparent enough
• Can we imagine a healthy development of our digital
society without solving the post-Snowden challenges it
brings to citizens, technology, community and
governments as well?

15. RIR CASE STUDY
• MOST CRITICAL FOR TRUST:
Members of studied IG organisations perceive the role of the
board and relationship of their organisation with the wider
Internet community as critical for continuing to have trust in
the organisation
MOST DAMAGING FOR TRUST:
• a non-transparent act of an organisation.
• not addressing adequately external regulatory threats
• deviation from policies
CONCLUSIONS:
• Demand for transparency
• Demand for slightly conservative business predictability
• Organisation/institution - True to its core mission.