Harshit Nanda
Pronouns: he/his
Research Mentor(s): Alanson Sample
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Computer Science and Engineering / Engineering
Program: UROP
Session: Session 1 (9:00am – 9:50am)
Authors:
Abstract
The use of voice assistants has become increasingly popular in recent years, with many people using them to control their smart devices, schedule appointments, and even make phone calls. However, with this increased use comes concerns about privacy. PrivacyMic, a device that allows users to interact with voice assistants without having to worry about their privacy being compromised by making use of the inaudible frequencies. PrivacyMic is a small, portable device that can be placed near a smart speaker or other voice- controlled device. When activated, it creates a “privacy zone” around the device, preventing the voice assistant from recording or transmitting any audible frequencies. This means that any conversations or other audio that takes place outside of the privacy zone will not be picked up by the voice assistant and will therefore not be recorded or transmitted to the cloud. In a privacy evaluation experiment, found that none of the participants were able to transcribe the audio filtered by PrivacyMic, while preserving private information. In conclusion, this paper presents a new way of creating a physical barrier around voice- controlled devices to protect users’ privacy without changing their function. PrivacyMic is a promising solution for addressing privacy concerns related to voice assistants. It is a simple and effective way to prevent voice assistants from recording or transmitting audio that a user may not want to be recorded.
