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Title: Exploring User Trust and Privacy Concerns: A Survey Study on Voice-Activated Smart Assistants Among Students

Consent Form for Participation in Research Study

I am Ada Verdha, a master’s degree student at the University of Mannheim. You are invited to participate in a research study exploring students' trust, privacy concerns, and usage patterns related to voice-activated smart assistants. The results of this study will be used for my master’s thesis defense.
If you agree to participate, you will be asked to complete a survey that will take approximately 10-15 minutes. The survey will include questions about your experiences with and perceptions of voice-activated smart assistants.
Your participation in this study is entirely voluntary. You may skip any questions you do not wish to answer, and you can withdraw from the survey at any time without any penalty.
All responses are anonymous and will be kept confidential. The data collected will be stored securely and used solely for research purposes.
If you have any questions or concerns about this study, please contact me at ada.verdha@students.uni-mannheim.de

1. By clicking “Agree” below, you confirm that you have read and understood the information above and consent to participate in this study.

2.

3. Gender:

4.

5. Please rate your overall comfort level with using technology:

6. Do you own/use a voice-activated smart assistant?

Voice-activated smart assistants (Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, Microsoft’s Cortana, etc.) understand speech through artificial intelligence natural language processing technology and respond appropriately. These smart assistants, provide a hands-free approach to handling of a variety of tasks, from setting reminders to controlling smart home devices.

7. If yes, which brand do you own?

8. How often do you use voice-activated smart assistants?

9. What types of tasks do you typically use voice-activated smart assistants for?

10. How would you rate your experience with voice assistants?

11. How much do you trust your voice activated smart assistants to protect your privacy?

12. Experiences with Voice-Assistants:

strongly disagree
disagree
neither agree
nor disagree
agree
strongly agree
I am often concerned that my voice assistant mishandles my data.
I trust voice assistant providers to handle my data responsibly and in line with my expectations.
I think voice assistant providers are not honest about how they handle my data.

13. Measure trust intentions in using voice assistants

strongly disagree
disagree
neither agree
nor disagree
agree
strongly agree
If a problem should arise, I feel comfortable with the information provided by voice assistants.
When problems occur, I can always rely on the information provided by the voice assistants.
I think I can count on voice assistant information in a problem situation.
In a problem situation that requires information, I rely on the information from voice assistants.

14. Data and Devices:
(I think ...)

strongly disagree
disagree
neither agree
nor disagree
agree
strongly agree
... about voice assistants collecting information that may lead to identification of me/other users.
... about who collects information from voice assistants.
... about voice assistants continuously collecting data about people and the device’s environment.
... about not knowing what information is being collected by voice assistants.
... that data about me will be passed on unchanged and directly to third parties without my knowledge.
... that data about me will be further processed and passed on to third parties without my knowledge.
... that the data collected about me will be used for other purposes (for example, to create a user profile).
... using voice assistants often causes more problems than it solves.

15. Perceived ease of use:

strongly disagree
disagree
neither agree
nor disagree
agree
strongly agree
Interacting with a voice assistant is clear and understandable for me.
Interacting with a voice assistant is easy for me to understand.
Interacting with a voice assistant is often frustrating for me.
Interacting with a voice assistant involves a lot of mental effort for me.
Using voice assistants often feels complicated and frustrating.
I find it easy to use voice assistants to run voice-controlled applications or access information.
I find it easy to use voice assistants the way I want.

16. To ensure quality, please select ‘Agree’ for this item:

17. Voice Assistants: Useful or Not?

strongly disagree
disagree
neither agree
nor disagree
agree
strongly agree
Overall, I find voice assistants useful.
Voice assistants are valuable tools for me.
Using voice assistants to run voice-controlled applications or access general information is useful to me.
Voice assistants are useful to me in terms of functionality.
Voice assistants are helpful to me in terms of functionality.
Voice assistants save me time.
Voice assistants make me waste less time.
With voice assistants, I am more effective than I could be otherwise.
Using voice assistants increases my effectiveness.

18. Evaluate the participants’ behavioral intentions to use voice assistants:

strongly disagree
disagree
neither agree
nor disagree
agree
strongly agree
I intend to use voice assistants in my personal environment in the future.
I expect to use voice assistants in my personal environment when given the opportunity.
It is likely that I will use voice assistants within my personal environment in the near future.
I intend to use voice assistants in my personal environment as often as possible.

19. Selling Data to Third-Party Advertisers
Scenario:
A data breach reveals sensitive voice commands and interactions with a well-known voice-activated smart assistant. Third-party advertisers purchase this data from hackers to target users with highly personalized ads based on private conversations. Users receive invasive advertisements related to their private discussions at home.

strongly disagree
disagree
neither agree
nor disagree
agree
strongly agree
This situation makes me reconsider my trust in voice assistant providers.
I believe voice assistant providers are honest about how they handle my data.
This case increases my concerns regarding who gathers data from my voice assistant.
This scenario makes me rethink whether I should keep using voice assistants.
Using voice assistants is still beneficial for me, despite concerns raised in this scenario.

20. Listening to Your Conversations
Scenario:
A voice-activated smart assistant in a user’s home is compromised, allowing a hacker to overhear private conversations. The hacker gains access to sensitive discussions about finances, health, and personal matters, and uses the information to commit fraud. The breach remains undetected until suspicious transactions occur.

strongly disagree
disagree
neither agree
nor disagree
agree
strongly agree
This case raises my concerns about privacy when using voice assistants.
I trust voice assistant providers to protect my privacy.
This scenario makes me feel that voice assistants carry too many risks.
This scenario affects how much I would recommend voice assistants to others.
I feel that voice assistants make my life easier, despite the risks highlighted in this scenario.

21. Voice Cloning – Stealing Audio Data for Criminal Purposes
Scenario:
To improve accuracy, a voice-activated assistant regularly records voice commands. Due to a data breach, these recordings are made public, and hackers use voice-cloning technology to impersonate users in fraudulent transactions. Criminals can imitate the users’ voice and trick their families or financial institutions.

strongly disagree
disagree
neither agree
nor disagree
agree
strongly agree
This scenario increases my concerns about how voice assistant providers store and use my voice data.
I trust that voice assistant providers can prevent the misuse of voice data.
After reading this, I am inclined to stop using voice assistants entirely.
Even with this case in mind, I still believe voice assistants provide useful services.
This scenario affects my willingness to use voice assistants in the future.

22.

Please provide your feedback about this survey.

Thank you for your valuable contribution to this study.