A framework for comparing perspectives on privacy and pervasive technologies

Pervasive computing research has evolved, investigating mechanisms for supporting some predefined notion of privacy, typically favoring individual rights over the rights of the community. We offer a framework to consider individual and group rights so that technology developers can more effectively reason about concerns for existing technology as well as generate new technologies that respect a well-defined set of social norms. We outline a framework designed to help developers understand the conflict between privacy and pervasive computing technologies, particularly those technologies that deal with sensing and storage. Pervasive computing technologies, especially those that can automate perception of human activity and then store that information, can provide tremendous benefits. We offer an analytic method to assist developers in asking questions about the systems and applications they are creating. We believe this framework will help developers minimize the gap between design goals and actual effects on privacy.