Experimental Prototype

Family Dynamics-based Access Control for IoT

(2019)

Access Control Proximity Detection OpenHAB IoT Privacy Smart Home

Internet of Things (IoT) Infrastructure / Systems (IS) Security (S) Human Computer Interaction (HCI)

Today, children are increasingly connected to the Internet and consume content and services through various means, raising significant concerns about their exposure to inappropriate material in smart home environments. This project addresses parental control challenges in IoT environments by proposing an access control mechanism that adapts based on family member proximity. Rather than relying on artificial intelligence decisions alone, parents retain authority to assess content themselves when physically present. The prototype integrates family proximity detection into openHAB to control access to IoT services, allowing certain media or device functions to activate when guardians are co-present with children and blocking them otherwise. The approach is context-aware, taking into account the dynamic spatial relationships between family members within the home while preserving parental agency.

The system gives parents better oversight without relying solely on AI moderation. By leveraging the sensing capabilities of smart home infrastructure to detect co-presence, the design ensures that access decisions are grounded in physical proximity rather than algorithmic content analysis. This preserves the parent’s role as the primary decision maker regarding what content is appropriate for their children.

The system was evaluated through implementation on commodity hardware. The evaluation demonstrated the feasibility of proximity-based access control as a practical and privacy-respecting alternative to content filtering algorithms for child safety in connected households. The approach shows that lightweight sensing mechanisms can provide meaningful parental controls without the complexity of content analysis systems.