Tangible Privacy: Towards User-Centric Sensor Designs for Bystander Privacy

Sensor enabled computers in the form of ‘IoT’ devices such as home security cameras and voice assistants are increasingly becoming pervasive in our environment. With their embedded cameras and microphones, this ‘invasion’ of our everyday spaces can pose significant threats to the privacy of bystanders. Because of their complex functionality, even when people attempt privacy measures (such as ‘turning the camera off’), these devices may still record information. With the ambiguities of current designs a bystander’s perceived privacy can diverge from their actual privacy. Indeed, being able to assess one’s actual privacy is a key aspect in managing one’s privacy according to Altman’s theory of privacy regulation, and current designs fall short in assuring people of their privacy. Building on this theory in the context of IoT devices, we introduce the concept of ‘tangible privacy’ as being essential to boundary regulation. We argue that IoT devices should be designed in a way that clearly and unambiguously conveys sensor states to people around them. We conducted an interview study to understand the gap between people’s perceived and actual privacy for current IoT devices. Through an understanding of participants’ perceptions and their privacy coping mechanisms as bystanders in the face of uncertainty, we make actionable design recommendations for designers of future IoT devices. Our work thus provides empirical and theoretical contributions to the understanding of people’s interactions with IoT devices and design considerations for providing strong – tangible – privacy assurances to bystanders.