Position Paper: Exploring Security and Privacy Needs of d/Deaf Individuals

According to the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), 70 million people around the globe are deaf. Nevertheless, d/Deaf communities remain an understudied and overlooked population in security and privacy research. In our ongoing research, we explore the security and privacy needs of d/Deaf individuals through conducting semistructured interviews to understand d/Deaf individuals' (1) technology (non-)use, (2) the associated security, privacy, and safety implications, and (3) the interactions between dlDeaf individuals and people who are supportive of dlDeaf people when navigating S&P risks. Our observations from pilot testing show that d/Deaf individuals often have to rely on their family or friends to get access to certain information. Many information sources do not support sign language, and use complex technical terminologies that are hard for people with limited technical literacy to grasp and translate into sign language. The lack of resources may make d/Deaf individuals more vulnerable to certain scams and frauds and they resort to hiding their hearing status to protect themselves against malicious actors. Our research lays the foundation for researchers, industry practitioners, and policymakers to develop effective security and privacy tools and resources for d/Deaf communities.