Understanding Physical Safety, Security, and Privacy Concerns of People with Visual Impairments

The Security-Utility Trade-off for Iris Authentication and Eye Animation for Social Virtual Avatars

“…Public perception of these devices is overwhelmingly negative, as seen with the initial release of the Google Glass, as they infringe on the privacy of both the user and bystanders [20,59,70]. Daily users of eye tracking technology trade-off the privacy of their everyday actions for the benefit of activity logging, gaze-based interfaces, and assistive applications [7,37,55,81]. Steil et al have developed a privacy approach specifically for the scene camera, using a controlled shutter to disable the video feed in private situations [75].…”

Bend Passwords for People with Vision Impairment

“…User authentication methods such as passwords help people avoid unauthorized access to their personal devices but are not without challenges, like memorability and shoulder surfing attacks, in which "attackers learn a password by observing users enter it in a public space" [67]. Previous research shows people with vision impairment are concerned with entering passwords in public because screen readers and screen magnifiers make their passwords more vulnerable to attackers [5]. Nevertheless, other research indicates that the majority of people with vision impairment choose not to protect their smartphones against unauthorized access [16,37].…”

“…Reading emails and typing passwords are tasks they do not feel comfortable about doing in public places, feeling afraid of having their information stolen by shoulder surfers [5]. Typing PINs while using screen readers makes people with vision impairment more susceptible to others listening to their passwords (aural eavesdropping), as the system reads everything out loud, even password entries [50].…”

“…As a coping strategy, most avoid performing those activities in public spaces, even keeping the phone out of sight [103]. Ahmed et al [5] found that people with vision impairment tend to fear using smartphones in public and being targeted by thieves. In contrast, Ye et al [103] found some people with vision impairment tend to feel safer when using their smartphones in public, because they can use it to call for help, should they need it.…”

“…By interviewing 19 people with vision impairment, researchers concluded that they have privacy and safety concerns which they cope with by avoiding situations and changing their behaviour whenever possible [5]. Study participants expressed interest in being able to know how many people are around them, whether they are close and what they are doing, in order to assess other people's intentions.…”