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Many consumer Internet Things (IoT) devices involve spatial sensors such as cameras and microphones. These affect the privacy of nearby people. A prime example is smart home security cameras. We present our work developing scenarios, use cases, and design proposals for addressing smart camera privacy. Preliminary findings from a concept evaluation with 11 participants is presented. The outcomes of this research through design project foreground the importance and challenges of designing to support the privacy of nearby users. We outline actionable design responses while also raising limitations of technology approaches alone to address these issues. 

The increased adoption of smart home cameras (SHCs) foregrounds issues of surveillance, power, and privacy in homes and neighborhoods. However, questions remain about how people are currently using these devices to monitor and surveil, what the benefits and limitations are for users, and what privacy and security tensions arise between primary users and other stakeholders. We present an empirical study with 14 SHC users to understand how these devices are used and integrated within everyday life. Based on semistructured qualitative interviews, we investigate users’ motivations, practices, privacy concerns, and social negotiations. Our findings highlight the SHC as a perceptually powerful and spatially sensitive device that enables a variety of surveillant uses outside of basic home security—from formally surveilling domestic workers, to casually spying on neighbors, to capturing memories. We categorize surveillant SHC uses, clarify distinctions between primary and non primary users, and highlight under-considered design directions for addressing power imbalances among primary and non-primary users.