"Q&A: UW Researchers Find Privacy Risks With 3D Tours on Real Estate Websites"

Virtual 3D tours on real estate websites like Zillow and Redfin enable viewers to explore homes without travel. The homes in these tours are sometimes staged, but they also contain evidence of current residents' lives. Researchers at the University of Washington (UW) were interested in whether personal belongings visible in 3D tours could pose privacy and security risks. They looked at 44 3D tours on a real estate website, each of which was for a home in a different state, and included at least one personal detail, such as a letter, a college diploma, or a photo. According to the researchers, the details left in these tours could expose residents to various threats, such as phishing attacks or credit card fraud. The researchers' findings were published on November 8 and will be presented at the USENIX Security Symposium 2023. According to lead author Rachel McAmis, a UW doctoral student in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, the team discovered traditionally sensitive information that people should never share with strangers, as well as information that reveals people's behavior and preferences. The majority of 3D tours in the study revealed the full names of residents. There were 3D tours that included labeled medication, passwords, credit card information, and a letter indicating a legal violation. Viewers of 3D tours can also see people's behaviors and preferences, such as the products and brands they buy, their political affiliation, how clean their house is, how many family members live together, their religion, and whether or not they own a pet. Such information revealed in the 3D tours could be used by malicious actors to target a resident with a personalized message. For example, a malicious actor can send a phishing message pretending to be an email from a brand from which the resident frequently purchases. This article continues to discuss the study on potential security and privacy issues that emerge when personal details are included in virtual 3D tours on real estate websites. 

UW News reports "Q&A: UW Researchers Find Privacy Risks With 3D Tours on Real Estate Websites"