Leveraging Sociotechnical Security and Privacy to Address Online Abuse

Speaker: Miranda Wei
University of Washington

Title: Leveraging Sociotechnical Security and Privacy to Address Online Abuse

Date: Monday, 17 February 2025

Time: 4:00pm - 5:00pm

Venue: Lecture Theater F (Leung Yat Sing Lecture Theater), near lift 25/26, HKUST

Abstract:

The prevalence and severity of online abuse are on the rise, from toxic content on social media to image-based sexual abuse, as new technologies are weaponized by people who do harm. Further, this abuse disproportionately harms people already marginalized in society, creating unacceptable disparities in safety and reinforcing oppression. Working in the areas of both computer security and privacy (S&P) and human-computer interaction (HCI), I address online abuse as the next frontier of S&P challenges. In this talk, I discuss my approach to sociotechnical threat modeling that (1) characterizes emerging S&P threats in digital safety, with particular attention to the technical and societal factors at play, (2) evaluates the existing support for online abuse, taking an ecosystem-level perspective, and (3) develops conceptual tools that bridge S&P and HCI towards societally informed S&P research. I conclude by outlining how sociotechnical security and privacy can work towards a world where all people using technology feel safe and connected.

Biography:

Miranda Wei is a PhD candidate in Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, where she is a member of the Security and Privacy Research Lab, the Tech Policy Lab, and DUB. Co-advised by Tadayoshi Kohno and Franziska Roesner, Miranda’s research focuses on human-centered security and privacy, including combating online abuse and supporting sociotechnical safety. She publishes at leading security, privacy, and HCI venues, including USENIX Security, IEEE S&P, CHI, SOUPS, IMC, and CCS, and she has been awarded a John Karat Student Research Award, a Google PhD Fellowship, and paper awards. Previously, she received a M.S. in computer science from the University of Washington and a B.A. in political science and computer science from the University of Chicago.