Older Adults’ Perceptions of Intelligent Voice Assistant Privacy, Transparency, and Online Privacy Guidelines

Abstract

The significant increase in the availability of intelligent virtual assistants (IVA) such as Amazon Alexa or Google Home provides a potential array of benefits to the daily life of older adult consumers; however, this increased consumption has also given rise to fears concerning privacy and security thereby limiting use by some groups. Our investigation explores older adults’ experiences and understanding of intelligent voice assistants. In a pilot study, we conducted semi-structured interviews with seven older adults to identify their understanding of IVAs and any concerns. We found that knowledge of IVA privacy practices, data use and management are key concerns for older adults. Additionally, while online privacy guidelines exist to help mitigate user concerns and address questions, many older adults in our study were unaware that these resources exist and felt that while useful they needed improvement to help older adults better navigate privacy control. Our findings suggest that to aid adoption, it is important to address older adults' concerns about privacy, data management, and how IVAs work. Therefore, our findings have the potential to inform the design and presentation privacy guidelines in the future.