Abstract

Smart home devices are often used by bystanders such as family members and visitors without the explicit permission of their owners. Owners find some forms of unauthorized use (im)permissible, depending on a variety of still-developing norms, contextual factors, and personal privacy preferences. To better understand how owners evaluate different factors when deciding if unauthorized use is permissible and actions they take in response to perceived misuse of their devices, we conducted a vignette study with 602 participants. We find that social permission exerts the greatest influence on owners’ perceptions, and that owners tend to rely on non-technical solutions like conversations after they have experienced direct misuse of their devices.