Roles Matter! Understanding Differences in the Privacy Mental Models of Smart Home Visitors and Residents

In this paper, we contribute an in-depth study of the mental models of various roles in smart home ecosystems. In particular, we compared mental models regarding data collection among residents (primary users) and visitors of a smart home in a qualitative study (N=30) to better understand how their specific privacy needs can be addressed. Our results suggest that visitors have a limited understanding of how smart devices collect and store sensitive data about them. Misconceptions in visitors’ mental models result in missing awareness and ultimately limit their ability to protect their privacy. We discuss the limitations of existing solutions and challenges for the design of future smart home environments that reflect the privacy concerns of users and visitors alike, meant to inform the design of future privacy interfaces for IoT devices.