Secrecy, flagging, and paranoia: Adoption criteria in encrypted e-mail

Shirley Gaw; Edward W. Felten; Patricia Fernandez-Kelly

Secrecy, flagging, and paranoia: Adoption criteria in encrypted e-mail

Shirley Gaw, Edward W. Felten, Patricia Fernandez-Kelly

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Abstract

We consider the social context behind users' decisions about whether and when to encrypt email, interviewing a sample of users from an organization whose mission requires secrecy. Interview participants varied in their level of technical sophistication and in their involvement with secrets. We found that users saw universal, routine use of encryption as paranoid. Encryption flagged a message not only as confidential but also as urgent, so users found the encryption of mundane messages annoying. In general, decisions about encryption were driven not just by technical issues such as usability, but also by social factors. We argue that understanding these social factors is necessary to guide the design of encryption technologies that can be more widely adopted.

Original language	English (US)
Title of host publication	CHI 2006
Subtitle of host publication	Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Conference Proceedings SIGCHI
Pages	591-600
Number of pages	10
State	Published - 2006
Event	CHI 2006: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Montreal, QC, Canada Duration: Apr 22 2006 → Apr 27 2006

Publication series

Name	Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings
Volume	1

Other

Other	CHI 2006: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Country/Territory	Canada
City	Montreal, QC
Period	4/22/06 → 4/27/06

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Software
Human-Computer Interaction
Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design

Keywords

Activism
Encrypted e-mail
Extended case method
Security

Cite this

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title = "Secrecy, flagging, and paranoia: Adoption criteria in encrypted e-mail",

abstract = "We consider the social context behind users' decisions about whether and when to encrypt email, interviewing a sample of users from an organization whose mission requires secrecy. Interview participants varied in their level of technical sophistication and in their involvement with secrets. We found that users saw universal, routine use of encryption as paranoid. Encryption flagged a message not only as confidential but also as urgent, so users found the encryption of mundane messages annoying. In general, decisions about encryption were driven not just by technical issues such as usability, but also by social factors. We argue that understanding these social factors is necessary to guide the design of encryption technologies that can be more widely adopted.",

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author = "Shirley Gaw and Felten, {Edward W.} and Patricia Fernandez-Kelly",

year = "2006",

language = "English (US)",

isbn = "1595931783",

series = "Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings",

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Gaw, S, Felten, EW & Fernandez-Kelly, P 2006, Secrecy, flagging, and paranoia: Adoption criteria in encrypted e-mail. in CHI 2006: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Conference Proceedings SIGCHI. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings, vol. 1, pp. 591-600, CHI 2006: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Montreal, QC, Canada, 4/22/06.

Secrecy, flagging, and paranoia: Adoption criteria in encrypted e-mail. / Gaw, Shirley; Felten, Edward W.; Fernandez-Kelly, Patricia.
CHI 2006: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Conference Proceedings SIGCHI. 2006. p. 591-600 (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings; Vol. 1).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

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AB - We consider the social context behind users' decisions about whether and when to encrypt email, interviewing a sample of users from an organization whose mission requires secrecy. Interview participants varied in their level of technical sophistication and in their involvement with secrets. We found that users saw universal, routine use of encryption as paranoid. Encryption flagged a message not only as confidential but also as urgent, so users found the encryption of mundane messages annoying. In general, decisions about encryption were driven not just by technical issues such as usability, but also by social factors. We argue that understanding these social factors is necessary to guide the design of encryption technologies that can be more widely adopted.

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ER -

Secrecy, flagging, and paranoia: Adoption criteria in encrypted e-mail

Abstract

Publication series

Other

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Keywords

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Cite this