What’s needed, then, are mechanisms for users to delegate authority over their devices to third parties while holding those parties accountable for their decisions, along with a less autarkic definition of user freedom that leaves room for such delegation. This is a new problem for the software industry, but fortunately it’s not a new problem for Western civilization. Centuries ago, western societies began to develop institutions and principles for delegating authority to third-party regulators while still holding them accountable for their decisions.