Analyzing Usable Security, Privacy, and Safety Through Identity-Based Power Relations

Abstract

While privacy and security is an issue for everyone, lack of power in relation to adversaries leads certain individuals to experience different or riskier vulnerabilities. For example, as related to smart homes, children or non-technologically savvy occupants may not have the same degree of access to smart home functionality as the installer. Or as related to sexting, women are more likely to be blackmailed or threatened with their sexually suggestive or explicit content. To recommend technology design and policy changes to support privacy and security for marginalized communities, my research explores people's privacy and security concerns and behaviors in three different contexts: smart homes, sexting, and security advice. My latter two projects focus more on the LGBTQ population in particular. I use primarily qualitative and mixed methods to elicit rich, detailed anecdotes and data from participants, asking what threats do these users face, what makes it difficult for users to mitigate those threats, and what designs can remove or reduce threats? Through these methods, my thesis answers these questions for disempowered users in these contexts, including people marginalized across sexual orientation and gender, and shows how power relations to other individuals, culture, and societal institutions affect users’ experiences and perceptions of security and privacy.