Mazurek Discusses Privacy and Design at Center for Democracy & Technology Event

Published May 9, 2018

Michelle Mazurek, an assistant professor of computer science with an appointment in the Maryland Cybersecurity Center (MC2), was a featured panelist at a Center for Democracy & Technology event focused on human- and privacy-centric design May 7 in Washington, D.C.

At the event, the panel discussed potential technical, legal and regulatory approaches to helping consumers manage their privacy.

“We discussed how the design of apps, social media platforms, and other services can be used to push users toward accepting privacy violations, and how requiring users to individually control and approve privacy decisions is not scalable in the modern technology landscape,” Mazurek says.

Some of her research at MC2 examines how to use automated tools to reduce the burden of privacy decisions for consumers while still supporting privacy.

For example, in ongoing work with Jeff Foster, a professor of computer science who also holds an appointment in MC2, Mazurek is examining how to use program analysis tools and user interface cues to better align Android application permission requests with user expectations.