Understanding Worker Perceptions Toward Privacy When Working with Collaborative Robots That Provide As-Needed Assistance

As robots increasingly integrate into manufacturing and warehousing environments, they are expected to perform tasks such as monitoring, lifting, stocking, assembly, and transportation, utilizing various sensing technologies including cameras, microphones, and physiological sensors. Collaborative robots, working alongside human workers, leverage these sensors to assess the environment, optimize task execution, and interact with workers. The use of cameras and microphones in such environments can lead to the collection of personally identifiable information (PII), raising worker concerns about surveillance and data misuse. In this study, we analyze survey data collected from 530 industrial workers to assess their perceptions of privacy in relation to data collection by robots in the workplace. Specifically, we explore worker attitudes toward the recording of video and audio data, as well as alternatives such as body joint tracking. Our findings suggest that country significantly influences privacy concerns, while gender has little impact on privacy perceptions related to audio data. Age affects privacy views, particularly with body joints data, where older adults express fewer concerns. Work location also influences privacy perceptions. For video, both middle-aged and older respondents show no significant difference in privacy concerns compared to younger adults.