Prototyping and sampling experience to evaluate ubiquitous computing privacy in the real world

ABSTRACT

We developed an inquiry technique, which we called "paratype," based on experience prototyping and event-contingent experience sampling, to survey people in real-life situations about ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) technology. We used this tool to probe the opinions of the conversation partners of users of the Personal Audio Loop, a memory aid that can have a strong impact on their privacy. We present the findings of this study and their implications, specifically the need to broaden public awareness of ubicomp applications and the unfitness of traditional data protection guidelines for tackling the privacy issues of many ubicomp applications. We also point out benefits and methodological issues of paratypes and discuss why they are particularly fit for studying certain classes of mobile and ubicomp applications.

REFERENCES

• 1: Gregory D. Abowd , Elizabeth D. Mynatt, Charting past, present, and future research in ubiquitous computing, ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), v.7 n.1, p.29-58, March 2000 [doi>10.1145/344949.344988]
• 2: Mark S. Ackerman , Lorrie Faith Cranor , Joseph Reagle, Privacy in e-commerce: examining user scenarios and privacy preferences, Proceedings of the 1st ACM conference on Electronic commerce, p.1-8, November 03-05, 1999, Denver, Colorado, United States [doi>10.1145/336992.336995]
• 3: Alessandro Acquisti , Jens Grossklags, Privacy and Rationality in Individual Decision Making, IEEE Security and Privacy, v.3 n.1, p.26-33, January 2005 [doi>10.1109/MSP.2005.22]
• 4: Altman, I. The Environment and Social Behavior-Privacy, Personal Space, Territory, Crowding. Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, Monterey, CA, 1975. ISBN 0818501685.
• 5: Bettina Berendt , Oliver Günther , Sarah Spiekermann, Privacy in e-commerce: stated preferences vs. actual behavior, Communications of the ACM, v.48 n.4, p.101-106, April 2005 [doi>10.1145/1053291.1053295]
• 6: Marion Buchenau , Jane Fulton Suri, Experience prototyping, Proceedings of the conference on Designing interactive systems: processes, practices, methods, and techniques, p.424-433, August 17-19, 2000, New York City, New York, United States [doi>10.1145/347642.347802]
• 7: Christensen, C.M., Anthony, S.D. Roth, E.A. Seeing What's Next: Using Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change, Harvard Business School Press: Boston, MA, USA, 2004, p.xi+312. ISBN 1591391857.
• 8: Citro, C.F., Iglen D.R., Marrett C.B. (eds.) Protecting Participants and Facilitating Social and Behavioral Sciences Research. National Academies Press, 2003.
• 9: Sunny Consolvo , Ian E. Smith , Tara Matthews , Anthony LaMarca , Jason Tabert , Pauline Powledge, Location disclosure to social relations: why, when, & what people want to share, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, April 02-07, 2005, Portland, Oregon, USA [doi>10.1145/1054972.1054985]
• 10: Dey, A.K., Salber D., Abowd G.D. A Conceptual Framework and a Toolkit for Supporting the Rapid Prototyping of Context-Aware Applications. Human-Computer Interaction Journal 16, 2--4 (2001), 97--166.
• 11: Dow S., Lee, J., Oezbek, C., MacIntyre, B., Bolter J.D, Gandy, M. Exploring Spatial Narratives and Mixed Reality Experiences in Oakland Cemetery. Proc. ACE'05, ACM Press (2005).
• 12: European Parliament, Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data. European Union Official Journal L281 (1995), 31--50.
• 13: Flanagan, J.C. The Critical Incident Technique. Psychological Bulletin 51, 4 (1954), 327--359.
• 14: Garfinkel, S. Adopting Fair Information Practices to Low Cost RFID Systems. Proc. Ubicomp 2002 Privacy Workshop (2002).
• 15: Bill Gaver , Tony Dunne , Elena Pacenti, Design: Cultural probes, interactions, v.6 n.1, p.21-29, Jan./Feb. 1999 [doi>10.1145/291224.291235]
• 16: Jim Gemmell , Lyndsay Williams , Ken Wood , Roger Lueder , Gordon Bell, Passive capture and ensuing issues for a personal lifetime store, Proceedings of the the 1st ACM workshop on Continuous archival and retrieval of personal experiences, October 15-15, 2004, New York, New York, USA [doi>10.1145/1026653.1026660]
• 17: Goffman, E. Behavior in Public Places. Free Press, 1966. ISBN 0029119405.
• 18: Goffman, E. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Anchor Books, 1959. ISBN 0385094027.
• 19: GVU Center, 10th WWW User Survey -- Online Privacy and Security, 1999. http://www.gvu.gatech.edu/user_ surveys/survey-1998-10/graphs/graphs.html#privacy.
• 20: Hayes, G.R., Patel, S.N., Truong, K.N., Iachello, G., Kientz, J.A., Farmer, R. Abowd, G.D. The Personal Audio Loop: Designing a Ubiquitous Audio-Based Memory Aid. Proc. Mobile HCI 2004, LNCS 3160, Springer Verlag (2004), 168--179.
• 21: Hill, R.A., Dunbar, R.I.M. Social Network Size In Humans. Human Nature 14, 1 (2003), 53--72.
• 22: Jason I. Hong , James A. Landay, An architecture for privacy-sensitive ubiquitous computing, Proceedings of the 2nd international conference on Mobile systems, applications, and services, June 06-09, 2004, Boston, MA, USA [doi>10.1145/990064.990087]
• 23: Houde, S., Hill, C. "What do prototypes prototype?" Handbook of Human-Computer Interaction (2nd Ed.), Helander M., Landauer T., Prabhu P. (eds.). Elsevier Science B. V. Amsterdam, 1997.
• 24: Hudson J.M., Bruckman, A. Using empirical data to reason about Internet research ethics. Proc. ECSCW '05, Springer Verlag (2005), ISBN 1-4020-4022-9.
• 25: Giovanni Iachello , Gregory D. Abowd, Privacy and proportionality: adapting legal evaluation techniques to inform design in ubiquitous computing, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, April 02-07, 2005, Portland, Oregon, USA [doi>10.1145/1054972.1054986]
• 26: Xiaodong Jiang , Jason I. Hong , James A. Landay, Approximate Information Flows: Socially-Based Modeling of Privacy in Ubiquitous Computing, Proceedings of the 4th international conference on Ubiquitous Computing, p.176-193, September 29-October 01, 2002, Göteborg, Sweden
• 27: Marc Langheinrich, Privacy by Design - Principles of Privacy-Aware Ubiquitous Systems, Proceedings of the 3rd international conference on Ubiquitous Computing, p.273-291, September 30-October 02, 2001, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
• 28: Larson, R., Csikszentmihalyi, M. The experience sampling method. New Directions for Methodology of Social and Behavioral Science 15 (1983), 41--56.
• 29: Yang Li , Jason I. Hong , James A. Landay, Topiary: a tool for prototyping location-enhanced applications, Proceedings of the 17th annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology, October 24-27, 2004, Santa Fe, NM, USA [doi>10.1145/1029632.1029671]
• 30: Milardo, R. M. Comparative methods for delineating social networks. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 9 (1992), 447--461.
• 31: Kristine S. Nagel , James M. Hudson , Gregory D. Abowd, Predictors of availability in home life context-mediated communication, Proceedings of the 2004 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work, November 06-10, 2004, Chicago, Illinois, USA [doi>10.1145/1031607.1031689]
• 32: Jakob Nielsen, Usability Engineering, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc., San Francisco, CA, 1993
• 33: Donald A. Norman, The invisible computer, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1998
• 34: Leysia Palen , Paul Dourish, Unpacking "privacy" for a networked world, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, April 05-10, 2003, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA [doi>10.1145/642611.642635]
• 35: Lucy A. Suchman, Plans and situated actions: the problem of human-machine communication, Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, 1987
• 36: Sung-jin, K. Camera Phone to Require Shutter Sound From Next Yr. Korea Times, 11/11/2003.
• 37: Terrell, T., Jacobs A. Privacy, technology, and terrorism: Bartnicki, Kyllo, and the normative struggle behind competing claims to solitude and security. Emory Law Journal 51, 4 (2002), 1469--1511.
• 38: United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Records, Computers and the Rights of Citizens, Report of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Automated Personal Data Systems. 1973.
• 39: United States Video Voyeurism Prevention Act of 2004. 18 USC §1801 et seq.
• 40: Mark Weiser, Some computer science issues in ubiquitous computing, Communications of the ACM, v.36 n.7, p.75-84, July 1993 [doi>10.1145/159544.159617]
• 41: Wheeler, L., Rois, H.T. Self-Recording of Everyday Life Events: Origins, Types, and Uses. Journal of Personality 59, 3 (1991), 339--355.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.2 Design Tools and Techniques

Additional Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.4 COMPUTERS AND SOCIETY
      K.4.2 Social Issues
  K.8 PERSONAL COMPUTING
      K.8.m Miscellaneous

Keywords:
experience sampling, mobile computing, paratype, privacy, ubiquitous computing, user centered design