CITP Lecture – Digital Safety and Security for Survivors of Technology-Mediated Harms

Platforms, devices, and algorithms are increasingly weaponized to control and harass the most vulnerable among us. Some of these harms occur at the individual and interpersonal level: for example, abusers in intimate partner violence (IPV) use smartphones and social media to surveil and stalk their victims. Others are more subtle, at the level of social structure: for example, in organizations, workplace technologies can inadvertently scaffold exploitative labor practices.

This talk will discuss research (1) investigating these harms via online measurement studies, (2) building interventions to directly assist survivors with their security and privacy; and (3) instrumenting these interventions as observatories, to enable scientific research into new types of harms as attackers and technologies evolve. The talk will close by sharing a vision for centering inclusion and equity in digital safety, security and privacy, towards brighter technological futures for us all.

Bio: Emily Tseng is a Ph.D. candidate in information science at Cornell University. Her research develops the systems, interventions, and design principles we need to make digital technology safe and affirming for everyone. Tseng’s work has been published at top-tier venues in human-computer interaction (ACM CHI, CSCW) and computer security and privacy (USENIX Security, IEEE Oakland).

For five years, she has worked as a researcher-practitioner with the Clinic to End Tech Abuse, where her work has enabled specialized security services for over 500 survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). She is the recipient of a Microsoft Research Ph.D. Fellowship, Rising Stars in EECS, Best Paper Awards at CHI, CSCW, and USENIX Security, and third place in the Internet Defense Prize. She previously interned with the Social Media Collective at Microsoft Research, and holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University.

---

This talk is open to the public.

If you need an accommodation for a disability please contact Jean Butcher at butcher@princeton.edu at least one week before the event.