how digitised identities connected to hidden homelessness impacts security and privacy risks, goals and practices

This aims to explore:

(1) how people with lived experiences of homelessness self-define their security or privacy goals online and what practices they use to promote security and privacy across physical and digital spaces.

This question will investigate how hidden homelessness shapes security perceptions and/or alters how people manage their own security needs. For instance it may consider how people prioritise offline/online security, are currently responding to online security challenges, and what strategies are used to maintain online security in an insecure offline environment.

This may further look into security strategies that promote offline security such as whether technologies are used to promote offline security/physical safety. (2) What spatial characteristics of hidden homelessness uniquely impact security and privacy needs.

This research question explores responses to question 1 to understand how spatial factors connected to hidden homeless spaces are directly impacting a persons capability for securing online. This therefore considers factors impacting capability such as area connectivity, privacy, access to technologies/space to use technologies, peers/network.

(3) To what extent are local authorities and stakeholders aware of these needs and accommodating them?

This question follows question 1 and 2 to explore how authorities and organisations are supporting those facing hidden homelessness with online security needs. Approach: This project will be split into two exploratory studies to answer the above research questions.

Research question 1 will be explored by using a peer-led research methodology to interview people with lived experiences of hidden homelessness to "break down the distinction between the researchers and the researched" (Gaventa, 1988). Using semi-structured interviews, participants will be able to provide accounts of their security experiences.

Following this, a participatory workshop will allow people to take part in defining themes from anonymised data themselves so the research analysis directly reflects peoples experiences and what they value. This methodology is designed so that participants have a say in how their stories and experiences are represented in academic research.

The second part of data collection will take another qualitative approach but this will be conducted with professionals working with people who have experienced homelessness. Specifically this research hopes to interview local authorities to explore how they are aware of and responding to the specific digital security needs of people in circumstances of hidden homelessness. These interviews will be transcribed and thematic analysis will be used to analyse the data.

Regarding the novel engineering and/or physical sciences content of the research, this project looks into human-computer interaction and specifically aims to focus on making cyber security accessible and therefore usable. This involves understanding what security needs are significant to people with 'everyday' experiences that are attached to physical insecurities such as economic and spatial.

Hidden homelessness will involve financial/housing instability alongside potential mental health/health challenges and fractured support networks. These factors affect how security can be maintained. Therefore, this research hopes to consider how cyber-security can be made more accessible for people managing technology in adverse circumstances.

Another aim is to highlight the ethical challenges with how technologies may be making this vulnerable group more insecure through exposure to surveillance. Digitised support means creating digital identities is a requirement of access and often unavoidable. This project hopes to explore how people feel about their data being collected for these purposes, how this data is managed and the ethical implications associated with collecting data from a high-risk group.