Security, privacy, and personalization: Informing next-generation interaction concepts for interactive TV systems

The success of the next-generation of interactive TV systems will depend on the type and form of user interaction these systems can support. New services like social TV, direct image, and data up- and download from the set-top box, connectivity of the iTV system to the PC and other mobile media devices, pose the question of how to support security, privacy, and personalization. To investigate the (sometimes naïve) concepts of users of what changes an interactive TV system will bring for their living room behaviors in terms of security and privacy, and how to support these aspects regarding user interaction, we set up two ethnographic studies. Study one investigated users' assumptions and ideas on the concepts of security, privacy, and personalization in households that did currently not use interactive TV. This allowed us to understand possible problems in terms of security and privacy before the introduction of interactive TV. Study two investigated current practices and usages of media and devices, to understand what type of interaction concept would support the practices of the user best. The results show that new forms of user interaction must support personalized access to the content on the TV, that they must support security and privacy, and that they should enable new forms of connectivity for all devices used in the living room.