"I know what you did last semester": Understanding Privacy Expectations and Preferences in the Smart Campus

Abstract

Sensing technologies in smart campuses help make them sustainable and well-connected environments. However, as with other smart environments, smart campuses can cause privacy concerns during and after deployment. We present the results of a 14-day in-situ study designed to understand peoples' sentiments about sensing capabilities in smart campuses and how they would specify privacy preferences. In contrast to prior work, which reported the importance of sensing modality and purpose, our findings indicate that indoor location type and recipient are primary determinants for comfort, surprise, notification preferences, and allowance of data collection. Further, we observed that indoor location type influences privacy control willingness and how users specify sensor controlling rule. For example, our participants allowed policy-controlled data collection in group areas while denying it in learning areas. Finally, we suggest that academic environments are unique, possibly due to the complex relationships between students, staff, and faculty.