Open Access

Laura Lach

• Many people do not read privacy policies because they are long, complicated and boring. For this reason, AI tools such as DSARly, Polisis and CLAUDETTE have been developed to summarize them for users. The usability of such software applications could be improved by the use of UX sounds. Therefore, in this study, ten auditory icons inspired by the special categories of personal data defined under the GDPR, were created using modular sound synthesis. The resulting auditory icons are: “heartbeat”, “DNA helix”, “eye scan”, “whistle”, “traditional music”, “megaphone”, “bed squeaking”, “church bells”, “singing bowl” and “kiss”. Subsequently, listening tests with participants were conducted in German language to evaluate, among other aspects, how intuitive these sounds are. The free-text responses provided by the study participants were categorized for analysis and mostly showed a high degree of overlap, indicating strong intuitiveness in the perceived associations during the first exposure to the sounds.