Holding on to dissensus: Participatory interactions in security design

Abstract

Recent high-profile cyber-attacks affecting the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK have brought into focus the fact that data, devices, and people are so intermingled that we now need a new way of approaching everyday security that provides an account of place. The assumption until now has been that the security of the individual will follow from technical security and that designing for security requires purely technological solutions. Our creative engagement method puts the human security of actors in the foreground, ensuring that actors who may ordinarily be marginalized may have their perspectives taken into account. The creative methods used include participatory physical modelling to co-design representations of what constitutes ontological security in the everyday for communities. LEGO and other materials allow participants to physically model matters of concern as tangible scenarios, using colored bricks to encode actors, infrastructure, and the movement of data. In this paper, a single LEGO model, depicting an internet-protocol home-banking service, is described in detail. A number of playful and agonistic interactions between our participants are examined through a place-based lens, using descriptive concepts from ontological and autonomous design, an approach designed to tease apart different aspects of our results. This reveals how a community constructs place, the perspectives and horizons of actors, and networks of resilience. We find that participants achieve positive insight into these scenarios by testing out the ways in which they can be broken down by antagonists and adversaries. Participants sustain a space of contestation in which dissensus is established and anticipation of breakdown can be played with.

2 Fast 2 Secure: A Case Study of Post-Breach Security Changes

“…Participatory Action Research: Engaging methods such as action research and participatory action research (PAR) were first introduced to the field of information systems in the 90's [3]. Since then, such creative engagement methods have been applied to security studies [1], [12]. The purpose of these methods is to be playful, participative, open-ended, and democratic [12].…”

“…Since then, such creative engagement methods have been applied to security studies [1], [12]. The purpose of these methods is to be playful, participative, open-ended, and democratic [12].…”

Found in Translation: Co-design for Security Modelling

“…To achieve this, they propose a methodology consisting of passive and active data collection cycles -meant to collect accurate data about security behaviours and attitudes in organizations [3]. Heath, Hall, and Coles-Kemp [13] focus on the security design of a home banking system by intersecting aspects of co-design and participatory physical modelling. More specifically, participants interact with different security scenarios by using LEGO kits and achieve positive insights by doing so.…”

Digital welfare: designing for more nuanced forms of access

“…Re-casting the values of the welfare system so that efficiency, employment and self-efficacy are matched with values of solidarity, reciprocity and care creates new placements of access and security that are located within the wider welfare ecosystem. Framing welfare as a form of care acknowledges the potential for conflict but also provides capacity for working with, rather than against, the breakdowns of everyday patterns and interactions (Hall, Coles-Kemp, and Heath 2018).…”