TWC: Small: Designing a Coordination Mechanism for Managing Privacy as a Common-Pool Resource

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

Ubiquitous computing technologies such as "smart" door locks, thermostats, fitness trackers and video monitors can help make users' lives safer and more efficient. These devices automatically collect data about users and their activities within their homes, which are then combined and processed by algorithms on a cloud server owned by the service provider. This enables beneficial system functionality that would not be possible from the devices in isolation. However, aggregating data from different points in time and about many different devices and users can also produce potentially invasive insights and inferences about individuals and households that can be surprising, unsettling or harmful when used for purposes users do not expect. This project develops a coordination mechanism for users to jointly manage derived data as a common pool resource. This shifts privacy problems from the current up-front decisions about what to disclose toward a collective governance model that supports updating disclosure decisions as technology and social norms evolve. This project will investigate norms for acceptable uses of derived data, as well as develop and evaluate tools to support collective privacy management decisions. The social norm studies include semi-structured interviews to identify norms, and validation experiments involving simulated norms violation and responses. Building on frameworks for analyzing social-ecological common pool resource systems, the project will perform iterative design and prototyping of a privacy coordination mechanism based on home automation systems. The system will be installed and evaluated in a real-world test to evaluate effectiveness and usability, as well as qualitative analysis of unexpected events. More information is available on the project website at: https://bitlab.cas.msu.edu/privacy/