Article
Beyond the "Accept All" Button: Redesigning OTT Personalization in the DPDP Era.
OTT platforms have transformed the manner in which individuals engage in watching movies, series and digital contents in the past years. The users tend to use on-demand streaming services to access content instead of the traditional television which gives them what they want depending on their interests. This individualization is enabled by the information that is gathered and processed on user information like viewing history, search activity, and usage patterns. Whereas this enhances user experience, it also brings a major concern regarding privacy and protection of information. Since the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 has been introduced in India, there is a growing concern regarding the way user data should be processed. Its purpose in the law is to provide users with more control over the personal information and to increase the level of transparency that companies have concerning data use. That is why it has become significant that OTT platforms reconsider their personalization systems and switch to more responsible and privacy-conscious approaches. The paper looks at the consent and personalization of existing OTT platforms, and the areas that are identified as critical issues of the existing systems. It also suggests a new paradigm, grounded on privacy-by-design in which the privacy of users is implemented at the start instead of being added subsequently. This paper demonstrates that good personalization may be offered without gathering too much data, and that the users tend to trust open and transparent platforms.