Mind the Gap: Mapping Wearer-Bystander Privacy Tensions and Context-Adaptive Pathways for Camera Glasses

TL;DR

This paper systematically evaluates privacy tensions in camera glasses, revealing expectation gaps and proposing context-adaptive privacy pathways to balance protection and usability.

Contribution

It introduces a diagnostic framework for assessing privacy mechanisms and highlights the importance of context-aware design for wearable camera privacy.

Findings

Bypassers demand more transparency than wearers provide

Four fundamental trade-offs undermine current privacy technologies

Context significantly influences privacy acceptability

Abstract

Camera glasses create fundamental privacy tensions between wearers seeking recording functionality and bystanders concerned about unauthorized surveillance. We present a systematic multi-stakeholder evaluation of privacy mechanisms through surveys (N=525) and paired interviews (N=20) in China. Study 1 quantifies expectation-willingness gaps: bystanders consistently demand stronger information transparency and protective measures than wearers will provide, with disparities intensifying in sensitive contexts where 65-90% of bystanders would take defensive action. Study 2 evaluates twelve privacy-enhancing technologies, revealing four fundamental trade-offs that undermine current approaches: visibility versus disruption, empowerment versus burden, protection versus agency, and accountability versus exposure. These gaps reflect structural incompatibilities rather than inadequate goodwill, with context emerging as the primary determinant of privacy acceptability. We propose context-adaptive pathways that dynamically adjust protection strategies: minimal-friction visibility in public spaces, structured negotiation in semi-public environments, and automatic protection in sensitive contexts. Our findings contribute a diagnostic framework for evaluating privacy mechanisms and implications for context-aware design in ubiquitous sensing.