Future Risks: Privacy and Security in On-Body Interaction Techniques

Publish Date: 2026-05-07 06:19:00

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05/07/2026 12:19

Future Risks: Privacy and Security in On-Body Interaction Techniques

Compared to the possibilities offered by on-body interaction techniques such as wearables, smartphones and computers are increasingly beginning to look like technologies of the past. But what risks arise when mini-computers worn continuously on the body become part of everyday life? This question was investigated by CISPA researcher Dañiel Gerhardt. His central finding is that privacy and security issues are closely intertwined, creating significant risks for users. As a potential solution, he developed his own set of design guidelines. He presented his paper “Privacy & Safety Challenges of On-Body Interaction Techniques” at the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Interacting with technological devices is part of everyday life for most people. “We use a mouse, a keyboard, or a touchscreen on a daily basis to interact with smartphones or laptops,” explains Dañiel Gerhardt, a doctoral candidate in the research group led by our CISPA-Faculty Dr. Katharina Krombholz. “With newer technologies such as smartwatches, smart glasses, or VR headsets, interaction is increasingly based on gestures or spatial input. Smart textiles further expand this by incorporating biometric interactions or inputs derived from bodily functions such as heart rate.” The key challenge for the privacy and security of users lies in the fact that interaction takes place directly on the body.

While traditional input methods such as the mouse or touchscreen have been extensively studied, there is still limited scientific knowledge on…

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