Perceived Control: Scales for Privacy in Ubiquitous Computing

Abstract

Ubiquitous computing (UC) environments have triggered a strong research interest in privacy. How can people remain private when the infrastructure and objects around them begin to talk? Heading for an answer to this question many studies have rushed over past years to present guidelines for privacy-friendly UC design and have tempted even to rewrite the vocabulary of this socio-psychological construct. In doing so, most authors notice though that when it comes to requirements specification for privacy in UC, user-friendly technology design is really more about perceived control than it actually is about the end state of privacy itself. The current position statement therefore attempts to pull the two constructs - privacy and control - apart by theoretically reflecting on their mutual dependencies. It then proceeds by proposing a scale for appropriate measurement of perceived control in UC environments.

Keywords: Privacy, control, ubiquitous computing, pervasive computing, ambient intelligence, user behavior

JEL Classification: O33, O38