Manual, Hybrid, and Automatic Privacy Covers for Smart Home Cameras

Smart home cameras (SHCs) offer convenience and security to users, but also cause greater privacy concerns than other sensors due to constant collection and processing of sensitive data. Moreover, privacy perceptions may differ between primary users and other users at home. To address these issues, we developed three physical cover prototypes for SHCs: Manual, Hybrid, and Automatic, based on design criteria of observability, understandability, and tangibility. With 90 SHC users, we ran an online survey using video vignettes of the prototypes. We evaluated how the physical covers alleviated privacy concerns by measuring perceived creepiness and trustworthiness. Our results show that the physical covers were well received, even though primary SHC users valued always-on surveillance. We advocate for the integration of physical covers into future SHC designs, emphasizing their potential to establish a shared understanding of surveillance status. Additionally, we provide design recommendations to support this proposition.