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Risks of Mobile Ambient Sensors and User Awareness, Concerns, and Preferences

Published:29 September 2022Publication History

ABSTRACT

Abstract: Ambient sensors are being integrated within modern technologies such as mobile, smart buildings, and smart medical devices. Despite the real risks of such sensors, it is hard for users to understand and control such sensor readings since these sensors are freely accessible to mobile, website, and IoT developers without any user permission and notification. Ambient sensors have not been studied for their risks, especially from the user’s point of view. We run an online user study (N=197) and evaluate user awareness, concerns, and preferences for mobile ambient sensors when accessed via apps and websites. Our findings show that users would like to have control over such sensors in a usable way and their protection actions and preferences are consistent across the two platforms (apps and websites). These findings help the sector to develop the next generation of sensor protection mechanisms more effectively.

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          EuroUSEC '22: Proceedings of the 2022 European Symposium on Usable Security
          September 2022
          232 pages
          ISBN:9781450397001
          DOI:10.1145/3549015

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          Publication History

          • Published: 29 September 2022

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