DAMA – A transparent meta-assistant for data self-determination in smart environments

Abstract

Global sales of AI-based smart voice assistants and other smart devices are increasing every year. Smart devices are becoming ubiquitous, including living and workspaces. These spaces often have very high privacy requirements, like living rooms, bedrooms or meeting rooms in office environments. Users of smart devices have security and privacy concerns regarding personal data collection, data storage and the use of such data by the devices and the providers. These concerns are aggravated by a lack of transparency by the device manufacturers. As a result, users have limited possibilities to make an informed decision due to missing information or interfaces. While this leads to limited trust regarding the security and privacy of smart devices, for most users, the practical benefit dominates. The project DAMA wants to address user’s security and privacy concerns by creating transparency and regulating the smart devices in connection with the respective context (e.g. when users are alone at home or when they have visitors). For this purpose, the project is developing a “meta-assistant”, an assistant that regulates other AI-based assistants and other smart devices. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) for context detection and device regulation. The regulation processes are based on established ethical guidelines, which are adjusted to the project context.