A new framework for trust in the Internet of Things

Abstract

As the Internet of Things (IoT) becomes ubiquitous and increasingly embedded in everyday life, concerns are growing about three key aspects of trust in the IoT – how people can see and control data flows, how people feel about their digital interactions and how IoT stakeholders such as policymakers, lawyers, technology companies and citizens can negotiate competing interests within an emerging IoT.

My research uses an exploratory Research-through-Design (RtD) methodology to investigate trust in the IoT. A mixed-method approach including critical literature reviews, in-depth interviews and co-creation activities with nine participants contributes a new understanding of trust in the IoT as visibility, control and consent. A case study with an older participant from a non-western context contributes a novel case study of socio-culturally and politically embedded understandings of ubiquitous technology. The study contributes a novel theory of ‘felt-life’ trust in the IoT that identifies digital rituals, factishes and talismans as ways of coping with mistrust in ubiquitous digital environments. A series of participatory thought experiments with twenty-two policymakers, lawyers and designers applies methods from legal studies in a new way to the study of trust in the IoT. The playing out of legal thought experiments as a Mock Trial adapts methods from the law in a novel way to participatory design workshops. The presentation of a mock trial as a policy fiction presents a method of reflecting on the impacts of new technologies at the intersection of technology, design and the law.

Drawing findings together from the range of methods used, this research identifies four key features that contribute a new framework of trust in the IoT that focuses on the ways people come to know about, control and negotiate with the IoT. In doing so, this this research proposes to move beyond functionality to put feeling, control, responsibility and negotiation at the centre of trust. With this goal in mind, this research speculates on design opportunities for controlling, feeling and negotiation trust in the IoT.

Date of Award	25 Jul 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Northumbria University
Supervisor	Justin Marshall (Supervisor) & Mark Blythe (Supervisor)