"Don't Gamble With Children's Rights"-How Behavioral Design Impacts the Right of Children to a Playful and Healthy Game Environment

Simone van der Hof; Stijn van Hilten; Sanne Ouburg; Max V Birk; Antonius J van Rooij

doi:10.3389/fdgth.2022.822933

"Don't Gamble With Children's Rights"-How Behavioral Design Impacts the Right of Children to a Playful and Healthy Game Environment

Front Digit Health. 2022 May 2:4:822933. doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2022.822933. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Simone van der Hof¹, Stijn van Hilten², Sanne Ouburg³, Max V Birk⁴, Antonius J van Rooij⁵

Affiliations

¹ Professor of Law and Digital Technologies, Center for Law and Digital Technologies (Elaw), Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands.
² Project Assistent Privacy and Ethics, Amsterdam University of Applied Science, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
³ Privacy Consultant, Privacy Company, The Hague, Netherlands.
⁴ Industrial Design, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands.
⁵ Senior Researcher, Trimbos Institute, Utrecht, Netherlands.

Abstract

Gaming is an important pastime for young people to relax, socialize and have fun, but also to be challenged, show creativity and work together to achieve goals. The design of games can have an impact on their behavior. With the changing revenue models of games, we see that game design is increasingly taking forms that do not always have a positive impact on children and may interfere with, or even violate, children's rights. This article examines how evolving revenue models of games impact user's behavior via game design. Behavioral design in games thus raises questions about children's rights to play and recreation, to health, to protection from economic exploitation and to data protection.

Keywords: behavioral design; children; children's rights; data protection; economic exploitation; gaming; health; play.