Who Cares? Contextual Privacy Judgments from Owner and Bystander Perspectives in Different Smart Home Situations
Authors: Alisa Frik (International Computer Science Institute), Xiao Zhan (King’s College London), Noura Abdi (Liverpool Hope University), Julia Bernd (International Computer Science Institute)
Volume: 2025
Issue: 3
Pages: 106–134
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56553/popets-2025-0091
Abstract: Current privacy protections for smart home devices rarely consider bystanders' privacy, whose preferences are varied and may differ from primary users. We use Contextual Integrity theory to explore context-dependent variation in privacy norms regarding smart home bystanders’ data. We conducted a vignette-based survey with 761 participants in the US, varying parameter values to capture acceptability judgments regarding bystander information flows in certain situations: domestic work, shared housing, visiting a friend overnight, and Airbnb. We found that recipients and purposes of sharing impact acceptance the most. Sharing interaction logs was more acceptable than audio or video. Sharing smart speaker data was less acceptable than smart camera or smart door lock data. We found nuanced interaction effects between factors in different smart home situations, and differences between protections most favored by participants playing bystander vs. owner roles. We provide design and policy recommendations for smart home privacy protections that consider bystanders' needs.
Keywords: Privacy Norms, Contextual Integrity, Bystanders, Smart Homes, Internet of Things, Ubiquitous Technology
Copyright in PoPETs articles are held by their authors. This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.
