Our research on wearable computing devices and ubiquitous computing platforms centers around discovering and mitigating new threats to user privacy and security prior to these systems (and their associated risks) becoming widespread. We are examining the different privacy and security issues that users perceive, as well as more effective methods for communicating how these devices might be collecting different types of personal information about their users and those around them.

We’re broadly interested in answering the following questions:

• How can we create privacy notifications to inform users and bystanders about the types of data that ubiquitous sensing technologies might be collecting?
• How can we architect platforms to enforce privilege separation, so that applications only collect the data that they need to function?
• Can we guarantee that data collected for a particular purpose will only be used for that purpose?
• What are the privacy and security risks associated with wearable computing devices, and how do users weigh their costs/benefits?
• What new attack vectors are we likely to see targeting wearable and ubiquitous computing platforms?

Current Projects

The list of currently active projects can be found here.

Related Publications

• Runtime Permissions for Privacy in Proactive Intelligent Assistants (SOUPS ’22)
• Balancing Power Dynamics in Smart Homes: Nannies’ Perspectives on How Cameras Reflect and Affect Relationships (SOUPS ’22)
• Evaluating and Redefining Smartphone Permissions with Contextualized Justifications for Mobile Augmented Reality Apps (SOUPS ’21)
• Privacy Controls for Always-Listening Devices (NSPW ’19)
• Investigating Users’ Preferences and Expectations for Always-Listening Voice Assistants (IMWUT ’19)
• Privacy and Security Threat Models and Mitigation Strategies of Older Adults (SOUPS ’19)
• Privacy Attitudes of Smart Speaker Users (PETS ’19)
• Information Design in An Aged Care Context (PervasiveHealth ’19)
• “What Can’t Data Be Used For?” Privacy Expectations about Smart TVs in the U.S. (EuroUSEC ’18)
• Information Disclosure Concerns in The Age of Wearable Computing (USEC ’16)
• Somebody’s Watching Me? Assessing the Effectiveness of Webcam Indicator Lights (CHI ’15)
• Is This Thing On? Crowdsourcing Privacy Indicators for Ubiquitous Sensing Platforms (CHI ’15)