Talk Title: Privacy Negotiation as a Mitigation Strategy for Incidental Users to Lessen Concerns in Smart Home Environments

Speaker: Sunyup Park, Ph.D. Candidate in Information, University of Maryland, College Park

Location: HBK 2105 and Zoom

Abstract:

Smart home devices (SHDs) are increasingly common, with nearly half of U.S. households having one or more devices. From speakers and TVs to cameras and appliances, SHDs provide convenience, entertainment, and security to users.
At the same time, these devices collect a wide range of data from a traditionally private space—the home—and raise numerous privacy concerns related to what data is collected, by whom, and for what purpose. Yet, concerns about privacy in smart homes are not limited to those who purchase, install, use, and manage SHDs (i.e., primary users). Non-primary users, or bystanders and incidental users, interact with SHDs and are subject to their data being used by them. However, the lack of awareness and access/control of SHDs limits non-primary users’ ability to mitigate their concerns.
To address non-primary users’ lack of options to protect their privacy in smart homes, privacy negotiation, where primary and non-primary users communicate about SHDs usage to negotiate privacy preferences, has been suggested as a potential mitigation strategy for non-primary users.

This talk addresses the viability and feasibility of privacy negotiation by approaching it from stakeholders’ perspectives and engaging them in it. I introduce three studies to understand stakeholders’ willingness to negotiate (i.e., viability), and the processes and values involved in privacy negotiation (i.e., feasibility). Using (group) interviews and participatory design methods (e.g., game), I found that users’ willingness to negotiate is contextual (e.g., types and locations of SHDs, frequency and duration of visit) and factors that hinder (e.g., lack of guidance, social awkwardness) or facilitate (e.g., trust) privacy negotiation. When engaged in privacy negotiation, users found exchanging information and viewpoints meaningful, as they promoted mutual understanding, regardless of negotiation outcomes. Based on these findings, I argue that privacy negotiation is viable, but for it to be feasible, sociotechnical factors must be considered.

Bio:  Sunyup Park is a Ph.D. Candidate in Information at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is a qualitative Usable Privacy and Security researcher interested in understanding users’ privacy perceptions and behaviors in data collecting environments, especially for those who do not have the power to address their concerns. Prior to UMD, she earned her Master of Fine Arts in Human-Computer Interaction Design at Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea.