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In this article, we extend and improve upon a previously developed data-driven approach to design privacy-setting interfaces for users of household IoT devices. The essence of this approach is to gather users’ feedback on household IoT scenarios before developing the interface, which allows us to create a navigational structure that preemptively maximizes users’ efficiency in expressing their privacy preferences, and develop a series of ‘privacy profiles’ that allow users to express a complex set of privacy preferences with the single click of a button. We expand upon the existing approach by proposing a more sophisticated translation of statistical results into interface design, and by extensively discussing and analyzing the tradeoff between user-model parsimony and accuracy in developing privacy profiles and default settings.

This study explores people's perceptions of and attitudes towards Internet of Things (IoT) devices and their resulting (non)adoption behaviors. Based on 38 interviews (19 pairs each consisting of a Millennial and their parent), we found that few had a clear understanding of IoT, even among those who had already adopted it. Rather, they relied on two distinct conceptual models of IoT that shaped their beliefs, concerns, and adoption decisions: Many approached IoT with an "user-centric" technology mentality, viewing IoT devices as tools to be controlled by the end-user, and focusing on their tangible aspects (e.g. breakability). Others drew on an "agentic" technology perspective, where IoT behaviors were device-driven and, at times, negotiated between the user, other people, and/or the IoT devices. Our study revealed that consumer-oriented IoT currently cater towards the agentic view and raise concerns for those coming from a user-centric perspective. We also found that generational differences in attitudes towards IoT were rather explained by these differing perspectives. Instead of following the trend towards greater automation and agentic modes of interaction, we advocate for a hybrid and personalized approach that supports a spectrum of agentic and user-centric perspectives and provide design recommendations to work towards this end.

Using networks of Internet-connected sensors, the Internet of Things (IoT) makes technologies “smart” by enabling automation, personalization, and remote control. At the same time, IoT technologies introduce challenging privacy issues that may frustrate their widespread adoption. This chapter addresses the privacy challenges of IoT technologies from a user-centered perspective and demonstrates these prevalent issues in the domains of wearables (e.g., fitness trackers), household technologies (e.g., smart voice assistants), and devices that exist in the public domain (e.g., security cameras). The chapter ends with a comprehensive list of solutions and guidelines that can help researchers and practitioners introduce usable privacy to the domain of IoT.

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