Single Display Groupware (SDG) is a research area that investigates how to best support multiple users collaborating around a shared display. The assumption is that the physical proximity of users working with a shared display will facilitate more effective communication than is offered by the model where each user has his or her own display and/or where there is remote collaboration. But an SDG does not naturally support the users’ need to access private data. An approach that has been implemented in several SDG projects is to provide the users with Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). This solution calls for dividing ones attention between two displays and can create a situation in which it is difficult to compare public and private information.

This paper deals with a novel approach, Single Display Privacyware (SDP), that allows for private information to be displayed on the shared display in such a manner that each user has access to their own private information, but not that of other users. A prototype system was developed and used to investigate the feasibility and usefulness of this approach. The results of a study to determine user responses to this approach are reported. The article is accompanied by a strong set of references.