Principles are based on scientific sources.
| Name | No External Burden |
| Sources | (Garfinkel, 2005) |
| Synonyms | None |
| Intent | Design security systems to have minimal or no negative impact on the friends, associates and co-workers of those using the technology, so that they do not push back on the users of the tools and ask that the use be curtailed. |
| Motivation | Frequently the use of a security technology causes a negative usability impact not just on the user, but also on those around the user. For example, when an OpenPGP user sends a digitally signed message, that message is displayed in Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express not as a message with an attached signature, but as a blank message with two attachments. When the user’s friends and associates receive this message, they ask the user to stop using PGP. This principle holds that security technology—like all technology—exists in a social context. It is important to be concerned about the technology’s impact on its users, but it is also important to understand the impact on the social group and the society in which the user exists. Social support can be an important factor in having a new technology deployed, and push-back from the social group can cause otherwise promising technologies to be discarded. |
| Examples | None |
| Guidelines | None |
| Tags | None |
| Log history | [02/14/2016]: Added to repository |
Garfinkel, S.L., 2005. Design principles and patterns for computer systems that are simultaneously secure and usable (PhD thesis). Massachusetts Institute of Technology.