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Smart Webcam Cover: Exploring the Design of an Intelligent Webcam Cover to Improve Usability and Trust

Authors:

Jung Wook Park,

Avinandan Basu,

Dingtian Zhang,

Gregory D. Abowd,

Sauvik DasAuthors Info & Claims

Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies, Volume 5, Issue 4

Article No.: 154, Pages 1 - 21

https://doi.org/10.1145/3494983

Published: 30 December 2021 Publication History

Abstract

Laptop webcams can be covertly activated by malware and law enforcement agencies. Consequently, 59% percent of Americans manually cover their webcams to avoid being surveilled. However, manual covers are prone to human error---through a survey with 200 users, we found that 61.5% occasionally forget to re-attach their cover after using their webcam. To address this problem, we developed Smart Webcam Cover (SWC): a thin film that covers the webcam (PDLC-overlay) by default until a user manually uncovers the webcam, and automatically covers the webcam when not in use. Through a two-phased design iteration process, we evaluated SWC with 20 webcam cover users through a remote study with a video prototype of SWC, compared to manual operation, and discussed factors that influence users' trust in the effectiveness of SWC and their perceptions of its utility.

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Cited By

Shalawadi SGetschmann Cvan Berkel NEchtler F(2024)Manual, Hybrid, and Automatic Privacy Covers for Smart Home CamerasProceedings of the 2024 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3643834.3661569(3453-3470)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3643834.3661569
Windl MFeger S(2024)Designing Interactive Privacy Labels for Advanced Smart Home Device Configuration OptionsProceedings of the 2024 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3643834.3661527(3372-3388)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3643834.3661527
Logas JGarg PArriaga RDas S(2024)The Subversive AI Acceptance Scale (SAIA-8): A Scale to Measure User Acceptance of AI-Generated, Privacy-Enhancing Image ModificationsProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36410248:CSCW1(1-43)Online publication date: 26-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3641024
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Smart Webcam Cover: Exploring the Design of an Intelligent Webcam Cover to Improve Usability and Trust
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Interaction design

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cover image Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies

Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies Volume 5, Issue 4

Dec 2021

1307 pages

EISSN:2474-9567

DOI:10.1145/3508492

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Copyright © 2021 ACM.

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Publication History

Published: 30 December 2021

Published in IMWUT Volume 5, Issue 4

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Cited By

Shalawadi SGetschmann Cvan Berkel NEchtler F(2024)Manual, Hybrid, and Automatic Privacy Covers for Smart Home CamerasProceedings of the 2024 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3643834.3661569(3453-3470)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3643834.3661569
Windl MFeger S(2024)Designing Interactive Privacy Labels for Advanced Smart Home Device Configuration OptionsProceedings of the 2024 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3643834.3661527(3372-3388)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3643834.3661527
Logas JGarg PArriaga RDas S(2024)The Subversive AI Acceptance Scale (SAIA-8): A Scale to Measure User Acceptance of AI-Generated, Privacy-Enhancing Image ModificationsProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36410248:CSCW1(1-43)Online publication date: 26-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3641024
Delgado Rodriguez SChatterjee PDao Phuong AAlt FMarky K(2024)Do You Need to Touch? Exploring Correlations between Personal Attributes and Preferences for Tangible Privacy MechanismsProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642863(1-23)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642863
Do YArora NMirzazadeh AMoon IXu EZhang ZAbowd GDas SCalandrino JTroncoso C(2023)Powering for privacyProceedings of the 32nd USENIX Conference on Security Symposium10.5555/3620237.3620376(2473-2490)Online publication date: 9-Aug-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/3620237.3620376
Waghmare ABoldu RWhitmire EKienzle W(2023)OptiRing: Low-Resolution Optical Sensing for Subtle Thumb-to-Index Micro-InteractionsProceedings of the 2023 ACM Symposium on Spatial User Interaction10.1145/3607822.3614538(1-13)Online publication date: 13-Oct-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3607822.3614538
Ghosh SAbraham ESmalyukh I(2023)Low-Voltage Haze Tuning with Cellulose-Network Liquid Crystal GelsACS Nano10.1021/acsnano.3c0369317:20(19767-19778)Online publication date: 19-Sep-2023
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.3c03693
Feger SWindl MGrootjen JSchmidt A(2023)ConnectivityControl: Providing Smart Home Users with Real Privacy Configuration OptionsEnd-User Development10.1007/978-3-031-34433-6_11(180-188)Online publication date: 6-Jun-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-031-34433-6_11
Delgado Rodriguez SPrange SVergara Ossenberg CHenkel MAlt FMarky K(2022)PriKey – Investigating Tangible Privacy Control for Smart Home Inhabitants and VisitorsNordic Human-Computer Interaction Conference10.1145/3546155.3546640(1-13)Online publication date: 8-Oct-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3546155.3546640

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