PC Microphone Privacy

Following a study into attitudes toward privacy and security, it became clear that people were uncomfortable with sensor privacy. People felt they could control their camera by simply blocking it, whereas the microphone had no sense of being on or off. In response, we applied materially representative design principles, where what indicates the state of the sensor (on/off) is what physically enables or disables sensing. In the case of a camera, the on/off state can be controlled by a cover. In the case of this microphone, rotating it physically disconnects the microphone and displays the connector. A 3D printed demo was used to showcase the concept.

Why it matters: Data privacy and security are fundamental to users and play a large part in their brand perception. While much is done at a software level to make computer data safe, little is done at a hardware level to ensure that a device cannot passively monitor its users.

Contributions: User study, ideation, concept and conceptual framework, concept prototype, demo ideation and fabrication, patent application, academic paper (SOUPS ‘17 - Symposium on User Privacy and Security).

Team: Eric Faggin, Mary Baker.