Understanding User Privacy Concerns of Shared Smart TVs
Open Access
- 16 October 2025
- journal article
- Published by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) in Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
- Vol. 9 (7) , 1-30
Abstract
As smart TVs gain popularity, they introduce significant privacy and security concerns due to their extensive data collection and multi-user contexts. This paper investigates user perceptions of privacy concerns regarding both service providers and the multi-user use case in the context of smart TVs. Through in-depth interviews with 22 smart TV users, we found that participants expressed uncertainty about the data collection practices of smart TVs and a desire for clearer communication of such practices. Participants reported discomfort with how their personal information is handled through their smart TVs but felt forced to accept it due to the lack of ability to opt out. Our study also highlights varied privacy concerns when smart TVs are shared in public versus private settings. While participants expressed significantly less concern when sharing smart TVs with acquaintances in private settings, concerns were more prevalent in public settings like hotels and Airbnbs. Based on the findings, we provide recommendations for designers, policymakers, and researchers to improve privacy protection and user experience around smart TVs.Keywords
This publication has 39 references indexed in Scilit:
- Data autonomy and privacy in the smart home: the case for a privacy smart home meta-assistantAI & SOCIETY, 2025
- Review of Security and Privacy-Based IoT Smart Home Access Control DevicesWireless Personal Communications, 2024
- SmartLog: A Smart TV-Based Lifelogging System for Capturing, Storing, and Visualizing Watching BehaviorInternational Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 2023
- Consumers’ acceptance of domestic Internet-of-Things: The role of trust and privacy concernsJournal of Business Research, 2022
- Gender differences in privacy tendencies on social network sites: A meta-analysisComputers in Human Behavior, 2019
- Design and Development of Smart TV Protector2018
- Not so Smart: On Smart TV Apps2015
- A review of collocated multi-user TVPersonal and Ubiquitous Computing, 2015
- Demo: using malicious media files to compromise the security and privacy of smart TVs2014
- A study of privacy settings errors in an online social network2012