Effect of Robot Notification on Acquiring Permission to Use Personal Information

Abstract

With recent technological developments, such as machine learning, data collection has become increasingly important. However, due to privacy issues, there is an ethical problem in collecting data on everyday activities. In this study, we aimed to develop a mechanism for acquiring consent interactively by using a robot and, as a first step, focus on a dialogue strategy in which users feel safe to provide their data. Specifically, we investigated the effects of reminder and rationale provided by the robot in situations where consent is obtained. We conducted two experiments in which users conversed with a virtual robot agent in a crowd setting. We found that the robot reminder improved the degree of understanding regarding the use of data. In addition, the permission rate was improved by robot notifications. However, no effect of rationale was observed. These results contribute to the discussion on the ethical aspects of data collection by robots.