Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Privacy--Lessons from the Usability Lab

One of the innovations of the 20th century was the "usability lab" for testing software being developed and before release to the field. In my old agency, the lab was a setup where we'd put a person at a computer terminal, install new software on the computer, give the person a set of scenarios to execute using the new software, and videotape the operation, one camera on the terminal to see what she was doing and one on the user to see how she was doing (i.e., puzzled, stumped, flying through the exercise). Such testing was highly recommended by the software consultants and development experts, it was interesting to do, but we rarely did it. The reasons for that may bear on some concerns about the loss of privacy in the today's world.

The user had no privacy--we had 2 hours of tape for every hour she spent in the lab. That was the problem, we had too much data. Once the test was over, we could debrief the user quickly. But going through all the tapes would require spending the same amount of time watching as she had spent doing. It just wasn't a rewarding exercise.

It seems to me the same is true in many cases where people/companies collect personal data now. If there's no one with a strong motive to look at the data, and then misuse it, the risk to my privacy is negligible. Safeway's computer knows I buy cat food, and often provides a coupon at checkout to try to get me to buy a different brand, even when all I'm getting is milk and fruit. But that's all happening in bits and bytes. Even if someone at Safeway could look at my records, there's no motive to do so. The concern for movie stars and other famous people is different; they could attract stalkers and nuts who are motivated to find and use the data. (Like the IRS employee(s) who looked at Elizabeth Taylor's 1040.)

One of the things you can give thanks for is that you aren't famous.

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