Workshop Program |
Workshop at a glance When: Monday, 13th September 2004. Where: Glasgow, UK, part of Mobile HCI 2004. [conference website] Inquiries:  |
Reference material |
A collection of basic references on location privacy issues, taken from the general press, technical publications, trade publications and law reviews. |
 Proceedings  |
NEW!
PDF file (1450KB) includes the complete proceedings of the workshop. |
People are increasingly carrying location-aware devices (i.e., able to determine their own location, and therefore that of the user, in physical space). A variety of such location systems are currently deployed or under development, from the global mobile telephony infrastructure to schemes based on infrared badges, Bluetooth, GPS, or WiFi (802.11).
These location systems raise several
concerns, among which
privacy, security and information control are at the forefront of
social and
legal discourse. Some countries have adopted pertinent,
if partial, legislation. Other countries’ regulatory regimes lag
behind. Operators
and service providers are uncertain of the legal context. Users are
unaware of
their options, abilities and rights. From the technical perspective,
while much
work has been done in the privacy and ubiquitous computing communities,
it
rarely influences how new systems are designed and how technology is
introduced
within existing social and organizational structures.
Within the scope of the Mobile HCI 2004 conference, we are interested in addressing privacy and information control issues from the user’s perspective. We intend to approach these questions from a multidisciplinary, human-centered approach, integrating an analysis the technical characteristics of location systems with relevant usability, social and legal considerations. We hope that by addressing different concerns (e.g., personal privacy, data protection, system integrity, cost factors) we will be able to refine the current discussion in the field, by identifying and characterizing salient issues, and proposing a range of adequate protection tools for each.
We are particularly interested in the following issues:
– Understanding. Do users understand how the system works and what they are disclosing to the location system?
–
Cost/benefit
analysis. What
benefits do users gain from disclosing their location information? How
do users
effectively assess those benefits?
–
Privacy Enhancing
Technologies.
How can technology be used to prevent the disclosure of information
that the
user desires to be kept private?
–
Legislation.
In what ways
may disclosed information be used in different regulatory regimes? How
should
technology be parameterized to satisfy these requirements? How should
legislation adapt to privacy-preserving location systems?
–
Culture. How
do social
conventions and expectations vary across cultures?
–
Social dynamics.
In what
ways is the disclosure of a user’s location to a service provider,
individual
or organization similar to or different from other disclosures people
make in
everyday life?
–
Trust. What
organizations or
individuals do users trust with their location information and why?
The organizers encourage people with an interest in the questions outlined above to participate in this workshop, by presenting a position paper, legal analysis, or user study. Accepted contributions will be presented at the workshop and will form the basis of the ensuing discussion. We are soliciting original contributions, (1-4 pages, in Springer LNCS format, i.e. max. 2500 words) on the following topics:
– regulatory issues: need and scope for novel legislation in the field;
– social issues: user studies and the effect of social differences on design issues;
– usability issues: how to build applications that enhance user’s understanding of the underlying principles and functionality;
–
architectural
issues: how to compromise
between privacy, security and market needs in a multilateral
perspective.
This workshop intends to stimulate a discussion which takes into
consideration the three stances, which previous research on privacy on
the
Internet has shown to be mostly representative of social trends: of
those who
would like to push technology and figure out privacy issues later, of
the
deeply worried privacy advocates, and of the those without a clear
opinion on
the topic. We would like to attract a mix of academic researchers,
telecom
operators, developers and policymakers in order to spur a comprehensive
discussion of the global consequences of location systems. By thinking
through
and understanding diverse perspectives, the organizers think that they
can move
forward with the development and use of location systems and yet do so
in a way
that is respectful of the privacy needs and desires
of users.
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last updated: September 19, 2004