Empowering young Canadians in the smart device era: A privacy-by-design research and public engagement initiative

Organization

Vancouver Island University

Published

2026

Project leader

Dr. Ajay Shrestha

Summary

This project examines how Canadian youth aged 16–24 understand and manage privacy when using smart voice assistants. It turns the research findings into practical guidance for designing, regulating, and using these technologies more safely.

The project includes two systematic reviews. The first examines how smart devices may capture private conversations without users fully realizing it and explores what this means for youth privacy. The second reviews privacy-by-design frameworks, tools, and policies intended to protect young people who use artificial intelligence-enabled smart devices.

The research team also audits Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Apple Siri. The audit compares how well each platform supports privacy requirements and how easy it is for users to find, understand, and use privacy controls. In addition, five focus groups with 26 youth participants explore how young people balance convenience and privacy in everyday use. A survey collects 494 responses, with 469 valid responses included in the statistical analysis. The analysis examines perceived privacy risk, perceived privacy benefit, algorithmic transparency and trust, privacy self-efficacy, and privacy-protective behavior.

Across the different methods, the findings point to a clear conclusion: young people are more likely to protect their privacy when controls are easy to locate, understand, use, and confirm. Clear explanations and trustworthy system feedback are especially important because they help youth feel confident taking action.

The project shares its findings through peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, a project website, and public outreach. It also produces a validated Privacy-by-Design Toolkit with practical recommendations for educators, policymakers, and product teams.

Project deliverables are available in the following language(s):

English

1. Website – Empowering Young Canadians in the Smart Device Era
2. Publications and project outputs:
• Final Report – Empowering Young Canadians in the Smart Device Era: A Privacy-by-Design Research and Public Engagement Initiative
• Systematic Review (1) – Covert Surveillance in Smart Devices: A SCOUR Framework Analysis of Youth Privacy Implications
  IEEE publication – Open-access version
• Systematic Review (2) – Toward Youth-Centered Privacy-by-Design in Smart Devices: A Systematic Review
  IEEE publication – Open-access version
• Privacy-by-Design Audit – Balancing Usability and Compliance in AI Smart Devices: A Privacy-by-Design Audit of Google Home, Alexa, and Siri
  IEEE publication – Open-access version
• Focus-Group Study – Convenience vs. Control: A Qualitative Study of Youth Privacy with Smart Voice Assistants
  IEEE publication – Open-access version
• Model Analysis – Privacy by Voice: Modeling Youth Privacy-Protective Behavior in Smart Voice Assistants
  IEEE publication – Open-access version
• Age-Differentiated Analysis – Age-Differentiated Pathways to Privacy Protection in Smart Voice Assistants: A Multigroup PLS-SEM Study of Youth
  IEEE publication – Open-access version
• Gender-Differentiated Analysis – Gender-Based Heterogeneity in Youth Privacy-Protective Behavior for Smart Voice Assistants: Evidence from Multigroup PLS-SEM
  IEEE, in press – Open-access version
• Risk–Benefit Analysis – Negotiating Privacy with Smart Voice Assistants: Risk–Benefit and Control–Acceptance Tensions
  Presented, in press – Open-access version
• Integrative Article – From Framework to Practice: Youth Negotiations of Privacy with Smart Voice Assistants Through the PEA-AI Lens
  Journal article, in review – Open-access version
• Toolkit – Privacy-by-Design Toolkit v1.0: Youth-Centred Guidelines for Smart Voice Assistants and Voice-Enabled Smart Devices
  Open-access version
3. Outreach and engagement:
• Webinar – Youth Privacy and Smart Voice Assistants: Evidence, Tensions, and Design Directions
• Workshop – Smart Devices, Smarter Privacy: A Youth-Centered Privacy-by-Design Workshop
• Explainer Video – Voice Assistants 101: Youth Privacy Risks and What to Do Today
• Public Engagement Article – From Awareness to Action: Three Ways We’re Reframing Youth Privacy in Smart Voice Tech

OPC funded project

This project received funding support through the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s Contributions Program. The opinions expressed in the summary and report(s) are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Summaries have been provided by the project authors. Please note that the projects appear in their language of origin.

Contact information

Ajay Shrestha, PhD (he/him)
Professor, Computer Science
Faculty of Science and Technology
Vancouver Island University

Office: Building 315, Room 206
Nanaimo, British Columbia  V9R 5S5

Telephone: (250) 740-6357 (transferred via Teams)

Email: ajay.shrestha@viu.ca