Privacy and Power in the Smart Home: New Findings and Future Directions

• In Event: 20406 - Communication, Information Technology, and Media Sociology Open Topic Panel

Abstract

Increasingly, manufacturers of internet-connected “smart” devices collect unprecedented levels of fine-grained data about our lives. The incursion of these technologies into intimate spaces—such as homes—erodes our ability to manage how and what information we divulge to whom, including those who share residences with us (e.g., romantic partners, family, roommates), those who temporarily traverse our residences (e.g., guests, contracted workers), and those who have controlling power over our residences (e.g., landlords, public housing authorities). The erosion of our ability to manage what we reveal or conceal about ourselves has implications for many aspects of our lives, including our material livelihoods, social relationships, physical and mental well-being, and safety and security, and sense of autonomy. Yet we know little about who is exposed to these technologies and their associated benefits and risks. How are the privacy risks associated with the emergence of the smart home distributed across people and places? Using new data from a nationally representative survey of adults in the United States, we examine which individuals, households, and communities are exposed to smart home technology. We conclude by outlining a research agenda to study how the emergence of the smart home reorganizes intimate relationships, functions as a tool for social control, and interacts with other processes that generate social inequalities.

Authors

• Sarah Elizabeth Farr, University of Michigan

• Denise L. Anthony, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

• Chelsea Bruno, University of Michigan