Batya Friedman

Trust online

trust Online T rust matters. It allows us to reveal vulnerable parts of ourselves to others and to know others intimately in return. A climate of trust eases cooperation among people and fosters reciprocal caretaking. The resources—physical, emotional, economic—that would otherwise be consumed guarding against harm can be directed toward more constructive ends. Here, we explore the nature of trust and how and where it flourishes online. We also seek to make sense of seemingly disparate perceptions. For example, some say the public is too trusting online; without thinking, people routinely download software likely to destroy important information or blithely engage in e-auctions or chat rooms with strangers. Others say the public does not trust enough, that people refrain, for example, from e-commerce under the mistaken belief that their financial transactions are not secure. How can we know if the trust we choose to give or withhold is warranted? Can we trust machines or other technological systems? How can those of us who create and maintain the technological infrastructure help establish a climate of trust? Addressing such questions, we provide a conceptual framework for understanding trust, then offer 10 characteristics of online interaction that can help engineer trust online and distinguish between trust in e-commerce activities and trust in online interpersonal interactions.

Value-sensitive design

Human values impact peoples information behavior. Imagine, for example, that a young Muslim man is interested in exploring the historical roots of jihad for a term paper. Imagine, too, that his library logs all digital reference interactions, and has a policy that if subpoenaed, such logs can be made available to law enforcement agencies. Under such conditions , this man might well decide to seek relevant information by other means, as he seeks to balance the value of access to information with other competing values such as privacy, consent, personal safety, security , and religious freedom. Despite the clear importance of values in human information behavior, the information behavior field does not yet have a comprehensive way of approaching this area. Value Sensitive Design offers one such approach. Value Sensitive Design (VSD) emerged in the 1990s as an approach to the design of information and computer systems that accounts for human values throughout the design process Two overarching goals motivate VSD: 1) to be proactive about human values in system design, and 2) to do so in a manner that is principled, comprehensive, and systematic. VSD particularly emphasizes values with moral import, including privacy, trust, human dignity, respect for person, physical and psychological well-being, informed consent, intellectual property, access, universal usability, freedom from bias, moral responsibility, and moral accountability. While emphasizing the moral perspective, VSD also accounts for usability (e.g., ease of use), conventions (e.g., standardization of technical protocols), and personal predilections (e.g., color preferences within a graphical interface). Key features of VSD involve its 368

Hardware companions?: what online AIBO discussion forums reveal about the human-robotic relationship

In this study, we investigated peoples relationships with AIBO, a robotic pet, through 6,438 spontaneous postings in online AIBO discussion forums. Results showed that AIBO psychologically engaged this group of participants, particularly by drawing forth conceptions of technological essences (75%), life-like essences (49%), mental states (60%), and social rapport (59%). However, participants seldom attributed moral standing to AIBO (e.g., that AIBO deserves respect, has rights, or can be held morally accountable for action). Our discussion focuses on how robotic pets (now and in the future) may (a) challenge traditional boundaries (e.g. between who or what can possess feelings), (b) extend our conceptions of self, companionship, and community, and (c) begin to replace interactions with live pets. We also discuss a concern that people in general, and children in particular, may fall prey to accepting robotic pets without the moral responsibilities (and moral developmental outcomes) that real, reciprocal companionship and cooperation involves. This research contributes to a growing literature on the human-robotic relationship.

What is a Human? - Toward Psychological Benchmarks in the Field of Human-Robot Interaction

In this paper, we move toward offering psychological benchmarks by which to measure success in building increasingly human-like robots. By psychological benchmarks we mean categories of interaction that capture conceptually fundamental aspects of human life, specified abstractly enough so as to resist their identity as a mere psychological instrument, but capable of being translated into testable empirical propositions. Six possible benchmarks are considered: autonomy, imitation, intrinsic moral value, moral accountability, privacy, and reciprocity. Finally, we discuss how getting the right group of benchmarks in human-robot interaction will, in future years, help inform on the foundational question of what constitutes essential features of being human

Informed consent in the Mozilla browser: implementing value-sensitive design

Reports on one of the first efforts to apply value-sensitive design (VSD) to a large-scale real-world software system. We sought to improve informed consent in Web-based interactions through the development of new technical mechanisms for cookie management. We describe our VSD methodology, explicate criteria for informed consent in online interactions and summarize how current browsers fall short with respect to those criteria. Next, we identify four goals for the redesign of current browsers. These goals, in turn, initiate an iterative design process that lies at the heart of the VSD methodology wherein we move among the design and implementation of new technical mechanisms, formative evaluation and the design goals coupled with the criteria for informed consent online. Key mechanisms include peripheral awareness of cookies and just-in-time interventions. At various phases in the design process, we implement our design improvements in the Mozilla browser (the open source for Netscape Navigator).

Cookies and Web browser design: toward realizing informed consent online

We first provide criteria for assessing informed consent online. Then we examine how cookie technology and Web browser designs have responded to concerns about informed consent. Specifically, we document relevant design changes in Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer over a 5-year period, starting in 1995. Our retrospective analyses leads us to conclude that while cookie technology has improved over time regarding informed consent, some startling problems remain. We specify six of these problems and offer design remedies. This work fits within the emerging field of Value-Sensitive Design.

Environmental sustainability and interaction

By its nature, the discipline of human computer interaction must take into consideration the issues that are most pertinent to humans. We believe that the CHI community faces an unanswered challenge in the creation of interactive systems: sustainability. For example, climate scientists argue that the most serious consequences of climate change can be averted, but only if fundamental changes are made. The goal of this SIG is to raise awareness of these issues in the CHI community and to start a conversation about the possibilities and responsibilities we have to address issues of sustainability.

The watcher and the watched: social judgments about privacy in a public place

Digitally capturing and displaying real-time images of people in public places raises concerns for individual privacy. Applying principles of Value Sensitive Design, we conducted two studies of peoples social judgments about this topic. In Study I, 750 people were surveyed as they walked through a public plaza that was being captured by a HDTV camera and displayed in real-time in the office of a building overlooking the plaza. In Study II, 120 individuals were interviewed about the same topic. Moreover, Study II controlled for whether the participant was a direct stakeholder of the technology (inside the office watching people on the HDTV large-plasma display window) or an indirect stakeholder (being watched in the public venue). Taking both studies together, results showed the following: (a) the majority of participants upheld some modicum of privacy in public; (b) peoples privacy judgments were not a one-dimensional construct, but often involved considerations based on physical harm, psychological wellbeing, and informed consent; and (c) more women than men expressed concerns about the installation, and, unlike the men, equally brought forward their concerns whether they were The Watcher or The Watched.

Multi-lifespan information system design: a research initiative for the hci community

This CHI Note proposes a new research initiative for the HCI community: multi-lifespan information system design. The central idea begins with the identification of categories of problems that are unlikely to be solved within a single human lifespan. Three such categories are proposed: limitations of the human psyche, limitations of the structure of society, and slower moving natural time-scales. We then examine possible opportunities and roles for information systems to help construct longer-term solutions to such problems and, in turn, identify key challenges for such systems. Finally, we conclude by discussing significant real world problems that would benefit from a multi-lifespan design approach and point to open questions. This CHI Notes key contribution entails the articulation of a promising new research initiative for the HCI community.

Envisioning systemic effects on persons and society throughout interactive system design

The design, development, and deployment of interactive systems can substantively impact individuals, society, and the natural environment, now and potentially well into the future. Yet, a scarcity of methods exists to support long-term, emergent, systemic thinking in interactive design practice. Toward addressing this gap, we propose four envisioning criteria --- stakeholders, time, values, and pervasiveness -- distilled from prior work in urban planning, design noir, and Value Sensitive Design. We characterize how the criteria can support systemic thinking, illustrate the integration of the envisioning criteria into established design practice (scenariobased design), and provide strategic activities to serve as generative envisioning tools. We conclude with suggestions for use and future work. Key contributions include: 1) four envisioning criteria to support systemic thinking, 2) value scenarios (extending scenario-based design), and 3) strategic activities for engaging the envisioning criteria in interactive system design practice.