Making Online Privacy and Security Usable and Understandable
Jacqueline Drs
Undergraduate Researcher
Computer Science Major (Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, & Engineering)
Sowmya Vemulapalli
Undergraduate Researcher
Finance Major (Kelley School of Business)
Sameer Patil
Faculty Mentor
Sameer Patil (Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering)
Project Description
The student will work on research at the intersection of cybersecurity (including online privacy) and Human Computer Interaction (HCI). Projects in this space can cover a diversity of topics including but not limited to: social media, phishing, online misinformation (aka "fake news"), smartphone apps, smart home devices, cybersecurity education, etc. The topics hold real-world practical relevance to our daily lives. Within this broad space, students will have the opportunity to choose and shape a project they find most appealing. The work can include one or more of various aspects such as: collecting and understanding existing research, designing and conducting studies about people's use of technologies, analyzing qualitative and quantitative data collected in user studies or obtained from online sources, developing prototypes of novel apps, etc. No specific prior technical knowledge or skills is required. Creativity, desire to learn new things, and willingness to accept challenges are essential.
Technology or Computational Component
All research projects deal with privacy and security aspects of technology from the human (user) perspective. The student can be involved in any or all aspects of a project including but not limited to: background research, study design, data collection, data cleanup, data analysis, writing scripts and programs, developing prototypes of user interfaces and user experiences, writing papers, etc. In addition to the projects being related to technology, carrying out many of the research related activities itself requires the use of technology such as: Qualtrics (for surveys), R/Python/Javascript/CSS (for data collection and processing), Java (for building apps), Overleaf/LaTeX (for writing papers), Github/Google Drive (for file storage and version control), Illustrator/InDesign (for making posters), Kaltura/Premier (for making videos), BibTeX (for collecting references), Slack/Signal/Zoom (for communication), Trello (for project management), MaxQDA (for qualitative data analysis), etc. Students are not expected to have prior experience with the tools but are expected to be willing to learn any technological tool that may be required for the research project.