Exploring Privacy Notification and Control Mechanisms for Proximity-Aware Tablets

In hospitals, offices and other settings, professionals face the challenge of accessing and sharing sensitive content in public areas. As tablets become increasingly adopted in work environments, it is important to explore ways to support privacy that are appropriate for tablet use in dynamic, mobile workflows. In this research we consider how spatial information can be utilized to support both individual and collaborative work in a natural way while respecting data privacy. We present a proof-of-concept implementation of a proximity-aware tablet, and a range of privacy notification and control mechanisms designed for such a tablet. Results from a user study support the idea that interpersonal distance and orientation can be used to mediate privacy management for tablet interfaces. Selecting a specific design for privacy threat notification and response is highly context-dependent—for example, in health care the first priority is to not impede the fluid exchange of information.