"These cameras are just like the Eye of Sauron": A Sociotechnical Threat Model for AI-Driven Smart Home Devices as Perceived by UK-Based Domestic Workers

A new study interviewing 18 UK-based domestic workers reveals AI-driven smart home devices create intense, asymmetric surveillance risks. In employers' homes, agency-mediated arrangements and opaque AI features intensify monitoring, limiting workers' ability to set privacy boundaries. In their own homes, workers retain more control but face challenges from gendered roles and unclear data practices. The research identifies domestic worker agencies as institutional adversaries in a new sociotechnical threat model spanning interconnected households.