A heuristic evaluation of the Facebook's advertising tool beacon

Interface usability is critical to the successful adoption of information systems. The aim of this study is to evaluate interface of Facebook's advertising tool Beacon by using privacy heuristics [4]. Beacon represents an interesting case study because of the negative media and user backlash it received. The findings of heuristic evaluation suggest violation of privacy heuristics [4]. Here, analysis identified concerns about user choice and consent, integrity and security of data, and awareness and notice. Beacon was an innovative tool, therefore, its systematic evaluation was needed in order to identify privacy problems, their causes and subsequent consequences. The study provides useful insights to human computer interaction (HCI) designers of online social networks

An event service supporting autonomic management of ubiquitous systems for e-health

An event system suitable for very simple devices corresponding to a body area network for monitoring patients is presented. Event systems can be used both for self-management of the components as well as indicating alarms relating to patient health state. Traditional event systems emphasise scalability and complex event dissemination for internet based systems, whereas we are considering ubiquitous systems with wireless communication and mobile nodes which may join or leave the system over time intervals of minutes. Issues such as persistent delivery are also important. We describe the design, prototype implementation, and performance characteristics of an event system architecture targeted at this application domain

Trust Based Participant Driven Privacy Control in Participatory Sensing

Widespread use of sensors and multisensory personal devices generate a lot of personal information. Sharing this information with others could help in various ways. However, this information may be misused when shared with all. Sharing of information between trusted parties overcomes this problem. This paper describes a model to share information based on interactions and opinions to build trust among peers. It also considers institutional and other controls, which influence the behaviour of the peers. The trust and control build confidence. The computed confidence bespeaks whether to reveal information or not thereby increasing trusted cooperation among peers.Comment: 14 page