Connecting People with RFID

Connecting People with RFID User study of the Hunaja system at Aula Cooperative Jyri Engeström Ulla-Maaria Mutanen August 2002

Contents of this presentation • Overview of the Hunaja system • Using RFID tags • Using the reader devices • The motives of use • Privacy and trust • Summary and open questions Connecting People with RFID

Hunaja (Finnish for “honey”) • Hunaja is an RFID access control system that enables users to remotely check who is logged in at a physical location by using the Web or a mobile phone • Hunaja was developed in 2001-2002 at the Aula cooperative, which is a non-profit organization based in Helsinki • For three months (May-July 2002), Aula issued a trial set of 50 RFID tags to its members • 9 members were selected for this user study. All of the participants were in the 20-35 age group • The participants’ use of the system was followed and recorded for two weeks during the month of July Connecting People with RFID

Connecting People with RFID

Features of the Hunaja system • In addition to controlling the doors of the Aula space, Hunaja has three unique features: • Linkage to Aula’s weblog, enabling online members to remotely see who is logged in at Aula’s physical space • SMS access, enabling members to check who’s there with their mobile phone • A speech synthesizer at the door, enabling online members to send greeting messages. The messages are announced by a computer voice when the recipient logs in at Aula’s door Connecting People with RFID

The purpose of the experiment was to embed RFID tags in each of the three most common items in people’s pockets, analyze their everyday usage situations, and discover user preferences Which form of tag is preferred? 2. The wallet with credit cards 1. The keys ? ? ? 3. The mobile phone Connecting People with RFID

Connecting People with RFID

Maarit (31, Journalist) Maarit Maarit and her husband lead an active social life in a large downtown apartment. She writes daily postings on the Aula weblog and follows intensively the activities at Aula. “I do spy on people a bit through Hunaja.” Connecting People with RFID

When Maarit sees that her brother Niko is at Aula, she calls him up and ends up inviting both Niko and his friend Timo for picnic and dinner. “I looked at everybody’s member cards and found out whose friends they are! Cheap fun and much more entertaining than a boring movie for instance.” Connecting People with RFID

Timo Timo works at the city library. He studies graphic design and publishes a skateboard magazine. He follows the weblog but periodically changes his Hunaja identity to confuse possible stalkers and stay anoymous. Timo (25, Student of graphic design) I like to be by myself and in peace. I’ve no need to communicate to others: “Hey, look at me, I’m here.” Connecting People with RFID

Hunaja was used as a “personal intelligence service” for scouting moves & making moves A. The Observer B. The Observed ! ? Web Space SMS Scouting the moves: • Entertainment • Time-saving • Spying • Romance • Avoidance • Professional interests • Recruitment Making the moves: • Social contact-seeking • Community-building • Personal branding • Career-building Connecting People with RFID

Two types of strategies for acquiring social capital were observed A. Bonding B. Bridging Building social bonds • Desire to move toward the center of a network characterized by “closure”, a close-knit group where everyone knows each other Building social bridges • Some people who were already established in their groups concentrated on forging “soda straw links” between groups, acting as brokers of information Connecting People with RFID

“First the tag was just a new token or accessory; then came the knowledge of the information it’s showing. It made me more conscious about the movement of other people, and concerned about what it’s showing about me, and how people might use that information.” Stephanie (29, Graduate student of political science) Connecting People with RFID

Users wanted to regulate the access to information about their identity, activity and location on the fly Myself only Select groups All users “Big brother” 1. Identity Level 1: Anonymous nickname • What attributes does user X have? • Which users have attribute J? Level 2: Google search with real name Level 3: Information not on Google (e.g. salary, people you like, purchasing profile) 2. Activities Level 1: Available / not available • What is user X doing now? • Which users are now doing R? Level 2: Broad categories (on vacation, at work) Level 3: Detailed level (in a meeting, at the movies, looking for company) 3. Location Level 1: City / country of residence • Where is user X now? • Which users are now at location Z? Level 2: GPS coordinates Level 3: Names of places (at Aula, at home, in tram number 4) Connecting People with RFID

Systems can be developed toward three alternative scenarios 1. Big Brother 2. Reality TV • In the scenario, an unknown number of observers (people who have access to data from the reader) have unidirectional access to the identity, activities, and location of a known number of tag users. This is the classic scare that Orwell wrote about in his book 1984. 3. Neighborhood Watch • In this scenario, a known number of tag users can give reader data access to an unknown number of observers. A similar phenomena can be witnessed in the popular reality TV shows, for instance. • This is the intended model of Hunaja: each member has access to the Aula space with the RFID tag, and is able to also observe others online and via SMS. However, because only 50 people out of 500 had tags, usage of Hunaja drifted towards the celebrity scenario. This was reflected in the motivation of the users. Connecting People with RFID

Notes for designers • Situation, space and time affect the level of trust • Users want to be in control. It should be easy to make changes to access privileges while on the move • The system should enable white lies Connecting People with RFID

E.g. access control, purcases, ticketing Scouting moves and making moves in the social network Summary: Connecting people with RFID • Empowering mobile phone users with RFID tags opens up a new domain not only for traditional applications, but also for connecting people in “small worlds” like Aula • However, a “Wall of China”: the ability for users to opt in / opt out easily should be maintained between the practical and social functions of RFID Practical function “Wall of China”: Users’ control of opt-in / opt-out on the fly Social function Connecting People with RFID

Open questions • How do user expectations and reactions vary across different cultures and demographics? • Experience of tags and reader devices • Social motivations • Concerns regarding trust and privacy • What kinds of physical locations are suitable for the placement of reader devices? • How can multiple services be integrated on one RFID tag without risking mix-ups in user conceptions (especially when payments are involved)? • What is the preferred user interface for managing groups and regulating levels of privacy? Connecting People with RFID

Thank you for your attention. For further information, visit the Hunaja Web page at: www.aula.cc/hunaja Contact the authors: Jyri Engeström: jyri@aula.cc Ulla-Maaria Mutanen: ulla@aula.cc

Connecting People with RFID