Usable Data Privacy for All

ABSTRACT

Despite recent global advances in data privacy regulations, protecting personal data privacy remains challenging as the world embraces data-hungry computing technologies, including the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI). Specifically, the general public feels no control over their data privacy against misuse by computing technologies; companies and developers find it costly to implement privacy-enhancing techniques; and regulators lack tools to effectively identify data privacy violations. To reconcile the tension between computing technologies and data privacy, I take a comprehensive socio-technical approach to make data privacy more usable for all stakeholders. In this talk, I will primarily present my past and ongoing work to articulate the socio-technical challenges in data privacy, to create usable data privacy tools for different stakeholders (e.g., end users, developers, regulators), and to design novel mechanisms to incentivize data privacy among these stakeholders. I will also briefly introduce my recent research study designing responsible and inclusive AI-based privacy assistants, as well as my interdisciplinary work on bodily data privacy in medical, health, and athletic contexts.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Yuanyuan Feng is an assistant professor in computer science at the University of Vermont. She received her Ph.D. from Drexel University and completed her postdoctoral training at Carnegie Mellon University. Her expertise lies in human-computer interaction (HCI), usable security and privacy, responsible artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML), and health informatics. She examines technical, societal, and interdisciplinary research questions to ensure emerging computing technologies (e.g., AI/ML, the Internet of Things, health tracking technologies) can leverage personal data in appropriate, ethical, and meaningful ways. Dr. Feng’s publications span across top-tier computer science conferences, premier security and privacy venues, and health informatics journals with high impact factors. She has received research funding from the National Science Foundation and the American Heart Association.