Privacy Behaviors of Lifeloggers using Wearable Cameras

A number of wearable ‘lifelogging ’ camera devices have been released recently, allowing consumers to capture images and other sensor data continuously from a first-person perspec-tive. Unlike traditional cameras that are used deliberately and sporadically, lifelogging devices are always ‘on ’ and au-tomatically capturing images. Such features may challenge users ’ (and bystanders’) expectations about privacy and con-trol of image gathering and dissemination. While lifelogging cameras are growing in popularity, little is known about pri-vacy perceptions of these devices or what kinds of privacy challenges they are likely to create. To explore how people manage privacy in the context of lifel-ogging cameras, as well as which kinds of first-person images people consider ‘sensitive, ’ we conducted an in situ user study (N = 36) in which participants wore a lifelogging device for a week, answered questionnaires about the collected images, and participated in an exit interview. Our findings indicate that: 1) some people may prefer to manage privacy through in situ physical control of image collection in order to avoid later burdensome review of all collected images; 2) a combi-nation of factors including time, location, and the objects and people appearing in the photo determines its ‘sensitivity; ’ and 3) people are concerned about the privacy of bystanders, de-spite reporting almost no opposition or concerns expressed by bystanders over the course of the study. Author Keywords Lifelogging; wearable cameras; privac