Paper Reading #17: Privacy Risks Emerging from the Adoption of InnocuousWearable Sensors in the Mobile Environment

References

Andrew Raij, Animikh Ghosh, Santosh Kumar, and Mani Srivastava.  "Privacy Risks Emerging from the Adoption of InnocuousWearable Sensors in the Mobile Environment". UIST '10 Proceedings of the 23rd annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology.  ACM New York, NY, USA ©2010.

 Author Bios

Andrew B Raij is a Post-Doc fellow with the University of Memphis.

Animikh Ghosh spent time as a researcher at the University of Memphis.

Santosh Kumar is an associate professor at the University of Memphis.

Mani Bhushan Srivastava is a well known researcher from AT&T Bell Laboratories. He is currently a professor at UCLA.

Summary 

• Hypothesis -User concerns over privacy in terms of mobile devices due to the higher amount of personal devices that hold personal information.
• Method -The researchers divided 66 participants into two groups. One group was monitored for basic information for a week, while the other (the control group) was not monitored at all. Both groups filled out a survey at the beginning of the study to indicate their feelings on potentially private information in the next week. After the week was over, both groups again took a similar survey. Before the second survey, however, the monitored group was given the data collected on them and the conclusions drawn from that data.
• Results - The results from the second survey definitely indicated that those with a personal stake in the data expressed higher concerns about privacy than those without. The concern of those being monitored also showed increased concerns after the week. The researchers also found that the group of people the information would be given to changed the level of concern. Concern also increased when a schedule of behaviours or a timeline was created. The two main areas of concern were dealing with stress and conversations. Some were concerned that the wrong conclusions would be drawn because they wouldn't have the whole picture.
• Content - This paper discussed the growing public concern about privacy risks in the information age. The results from its study show that when the stakes are personal, the level of concern rises. The researchers proposed removing as much information from transmissions as possible.

 Discussion

This paper didn't register as a big deal for me. I purposefully keep things I want private off my cell phone and Facebook. I don't post things I don't want random people to see, for it's going to be seen, and I know that. If I have private information on my computer(s), I ensure that it has varying levels of security on it, depending on how sensitive the information is. It seems to me that especially nowadays, this study should have been relatively obvious. At any rate, if people are that concerned about privacy, they should take steps to conceal it themselves and not demand larger companies or the technology manufacturers be the ones responsible.