A Survey Assessing Privacy Concerns of Smart-Home Services Provided to Individuals with Disabilities

Abstract

Privacy has been identified as a primary concern among stakeholders (i.e., service recipients, advocates, administrators, family) when using technology to provide residential services to individuals in need. This paper summarizes a study that distributed a survey to agencies that provide services (e.g., clinical, recreational) and resources (e.g., advocacy groups) to people with various types of disabilities (e.g., physical, sensory, intellectual, developmental) across the United States. The results led to several recommendations about how smart-home service providers can use technology in a way that promotes client privacy. In addition, we make several suggestions for how remote staff (i.e., individuals monitoring the information gathered by technology) can assist in the process of ensuring client privacy.