The Internet of Tactical Engagement (IoTE): Acceptability of Data-driven Public Communications in Smart Homes

A research project exploring the opportunities and risks of the future uses of smart technologies for public communications.

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Funder:

Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) [ES/Y000020X/1]

Research team:

Dr Jiahong Chen (Principal Investigator)

Dr Sheli Smith (Research Associate)

Project summary:

Smart devices are becoming more and more popular in UK households. The fact that they can interact with individuals in their homes, for example by showing a video on a smart TV, displaying an image on a smart assistant, or playing a sound on the smart speaker, makes them the most likely next frontier for organisations to communicate to the public. These messages could potentially be tailored to the audience's demographics or preferences, which is made even more possible with the data collected from users via a widening range of smart devices. Public authorities and civil society organisations are among those who will show potential interest in leveraging these new communicative channels to deliver messages that are of public importance, ranging from public health matters to climate change issues.

While some members of the public will have an interest in receiving these messages via smart devices (or even actively subscribing to some of those organisations), there will be likely concerns around the use of these new technologies, such as privacy, security and agency. At the moment, while there has been emerging research suggesting public concerns about related technologies (for example, online targeting), it is not clear how these concerns may play out in the smart home environment, or under what conditions such practices can be acceptable. Evidence is currently lacking to inform policymaking or production of specific guidelines. Focusing on public communications allows us to explore the potential public interests in personalised smart messaging (unlike commercial advertising, where mostly private interests are involved) while avoiding what has been proved highly sensitive and controversial (such as political microtargeting).

The Internet of Tactical Engagement (IoTE) project will therefore investigate the attitudes of the public towards public authorities and civil society organisations using smart home products to message users. The project will involve stakeholders, including public authorities, civil society organisations and policymakers, to capture their understandings of the current landscape and the prospect of smart engagement. A series of situational scenarios will then be created as a means to engage with the public and to gain insights into their perceptions of these new developments. This will provide the necessary evidence for organisations to consider how to utilise the new technological possibilities in ways acceptable and trustworthy to smart product users, and for policymakers to decide whether further safeguards will be needed in anticipation of this new reality.

Co-created resources:

Four videos have been co-created as part of the project. These four videos are a series of fictional scenarios depicting possible futures where smart technologies are used for public communications. They are created as a set of resources to facilitate reflections and discussions in participatory research (including for focus groups, interviews, citizen juries, etc.) as well as engagement activities in smart communications. The videos are the result of a co-creation process involving relevant stakeholders, including legal and technical experts, policymakers, regulators and civil society organisations, using the design fiction methodology and covering a range of themes explored in a research workshop.

The four scenarios each feature a possible use case of smart technologies (without necessarily representing a prediction of the future):