HCC: Small: View of Privacy in Older Adults

Indiana University, Bloomington IN

Investigators

Abstract

This research addresses open questions on the interaction of aging, financial security in an information society, and elder perceptions of the risks of digital information technologies. The end technological goal is to improve the design of security and privacy technologies for older Americans. Note that security on the Internet is designed by younger, risk-seeking technologists who are primarily male. Those over 65 who require a secure Internet are by definition older, also risk-averse, rarely technologists, and more often than not female. It is not surprising that there is a mismatch between the mental models of secure system designers and this growing group of users. In terms of method, this research will include an examination of the value of multimedia combined with the scale enabled by traditional surveys. Specifically, the research will evaluate the inclusion of multimedia interactive technologies in terms of enabling inclusion of the nuance previously possible only in smaller scale qualitative work. The implications of computer security being systematically ill-suited for elders are profound, and improving this mismatch is the broader implication of this work. Never has so much wealth been accessible with such ease by so many predators. Organized crime reaches out from remote jurisdictions, where American law enforcement cannot reach back. The combination of the concentration of wealth among Americans over age 65, the global unsecured network, availability of personally identifiable information used for authentication, increasingly organized online crime, and the disproportionate lack of technical expertise among elders can create a perfect digital storm. Yet this problem is profoundly under-studied. Without computer security technology built to serve elders, these risks cannot be effectively, systematically addressed.