Revolutionizing the intelligent indoor air quality sensor with a focus on privacy.
2022.
Cosescu, I. & Spongsveen, M.
This project, conducted by two computer science students at Oslo Metropolitan University, aims to improve the user experience of a smart indoor air quality monitor's privacy policy. The project analyzes the privacy and ethical issues surrounding smart home devices, specifically focusing on the Netatmo indoor air quality monitor. Given the complexity of current privacy policies and the low user engagement with them, the project seeks to create a more accessible, user-friendly privacy interface.
Results
The results include a video highlighting the primary privacy concerns and a redesigned prototype of the privacy policy. The video condenses critical information, making it easier for users to grasp essential privacy details. The redesign prototype introduces interactive icons and a cleaner layout, which reduces reading time and makes navigation straightforward. This simplified structure encourages users to engage with the policy, potentially improving their understanding and awareness of privacy concerns.
Recommendations
Recommendations Based on our findings from the literature review and walkthrough method, our recommendation to all manufacturers would be to redesign the privacy policies to a simple, clear, and suggestive model, so that users can easily go through all the information. Doing this by:
- Creating suggestive icons that complement the information and heading
- Creating short videos that explain the policy - Clean design with less or shorter text and structured headings
- Interactive design where the user can choose the section they want to read
Our general recommendations for manufacturers regarding security of personal data of the users are:
- Implementing two-step authentications after creating the account
- Asking for strong passwords
- Asking for Secured networks