  We conducted 26 co-design interviews with 50 smarthome device owners to
understand the perceived benefits, drawbacks, and design considerations for
developing a smarthome system that facilitates co-monitoring with emergency
contacts who live outside of one's home. Participants felt that such a system
would help ensure their personal safety, safeguard from material loss, and give
them peace of mind by ensuring quick response and verifying potential threats.
However, they also expressed concerns regarding privacy, overburdening others,
and other potential threats, such as unauthorized access and security breaches.
To alleviate these concerns, participants designed for flexible and granular
access control and fail-safe back-up features. Our study reveals why peer-based
co-monitoring of smarthomes for emergencies may be beneficial but also
difficult to implement. Based on the insights gained from our study, we provide
recommendations for designing technologies that facilitate such co-monitoring
while mitigating its risks.
