Privacy Therapy with Aretha: What If Your Firewall Could Talk?

Abstract

The rapid adoption of smart home devices has brought with it a widespread lack of understanding amongst users over where their devices send data. Smart home ecosystems represent complex additions to existing wicked problems around network privacy and security in the home. This work presents the Aretha project, a device which combines the functionality of a firewall with the position of voice assistants as the hub of the smart home, and the sophistication of modern conversational voice interfaces. The result is a device which can engage users in conversation about network privacy and security, allowing for the forming and development of complex preferences that Aretha is then able to act upon.