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Title: Feature creep or just plain creepy? How advances in “smart” technologies affect attitudes toward data privacy
Smart home technologies on our phones and in our homes are collecting more (quantity) and more (types of) data about us. These tools are intended to simplify everyday tasks, but to do so effectively, they collect significant data about users and their environment. One popular example includes intelligent personal assistants (IPAs) like Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, and Google’s Assistant. As these services have transitioned from being embedded in consumers’ smartphones to standalone devices in the home, they have evolved to collect and share more data in more potentially invasive ways. In this paper, we consider American adults’ attitudes toward IPAs. Through an analysis of focus groups with IPA users and non-users, we describe attitudes and concerns toward IPAs broadly, as well as how these attitudes vary based on the devices’ features. We suggest new frameworks for evaluating privacy-based decisions and offer policy suggestions for regulating data flows from smart technologies.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1947754
PAR ID:
10176663
Author(s) / Creator(s):
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Annals of the International Communication Association
ISSN:
2380-8985
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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