SoK: Synthesizing Smart Home Privacy Protection Mechanisms Across Academic Proposals and Commercial Documentations
Shuning Zhang, Yijing Liu, Yuyu Liu, Ying Ma, Shixuan Li, Xin Yi, Qian Wu, Hewu Li

TL;DR
This paper compares academic proposals and commercial disclosures of privacy protection mechanisms in smart homes, revealing gaps in real-world deployment and emphasizing the need for practical, validated solutions.
Contribution
It provides a systematic review of 117 academic papers and empirical analysis of 86 smart home device documentations, highlighting gaps between research and industry practices.
Findings
Academic proposals focus on system- and algorithm-based PPMs.
Industry documentation mainly includes reactive, compliance-focused protections.
Advanced academic PPMs are absent from commercial disclosures.
Abstract
Pervasive data collection by Smart Home Devices (SHDs) demands robust Privacy Protection Mechanisms (PPMs). The effectiveness of many PPMs, particularly user-facing controls, depends on user awareness and adoption, which are shaped by manufacturers' public documentations. However, the landscape of academic proposals and commercial disclosures remains underexplored. To address this gap, we investigate: (1) What PPMs have academics proposed, and how are these PPMs evaluated? (2) What PPMs do manufacturers document and what factors affect these documentation? To address these questions, we conduct a two-phase study, synthesizing a systematic review of 117 academic papers with an empirical analysis of 86 SHDs' publicly disclosed documentations. Our review of academic literature reveals a strong focus on novel system- and algorithm-based PPMs. However, these proposals neglect deployment…
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Taxonomy
TopicsAdvanced Malware Detection Techniques · Privacy, Security, and Data Protection · IoT and Edge/Fog Computing
