USER CONTROLLED PRIVACY BOUNDARIES FOR SMART HOMES

The rise of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies into the substantial commercial market that it is today comes with several challenges. Not only do these systems face the traditional challenges of security and reliability faced by traditional information technology (IT) products, but they also face the challenge of loss of privacy. The concern of user data privacy is most prevalent when these technologies come into the home environment. In this dissertation quasi-experimental research is conducted on the ability of users to protect private data in a heterogeneous smart home network. For this work the experiments are conducted and verified on eight different smart home devices using network traffic analysis and discourse analysis to identify privacy concerns. The results of the research show that data privacy within the confines of the user’s home often cannot be ensured while maintaining smart home device functionality. This dissertation discusses how those results can inform users and manufacturers alike in the use and development of future smart home technologies to better protect privacy concerns.