Usable Security and Privacy

Overview
Security features are useless if people cannot understand or use them. Our Usable Security and Privacy track investigates the intersection of cybersecurity and human behavior. We study how real people, from rural mobile users to corporate employees, perceive digital risks and manage their privacy. We aim to design security mechanisms that are effective yet intuitive, protecting users without overwhelming them.

Key Focus Areas

• Safety for Vulnerable Populations: Designing privacy tools for at-risk groups, including victims of harassment or intimate partner violence (IPV), ensuring their digital footprints do not compromise their physical safety.
  
   
• Authentication & Identity: Improving the usability of passwords, 2FA, and biometrics for users with varying levels of technical literacy.
  
   
• Privacy in the Global South: Understanding how cultural concepts of privacy (e.g., shared device usage in families) conflict with Western-designed privacy models, and proposing locally relevant alternatives.
  
   
• Anti-Phishing & Scam Prevention: Developing educational tools and interface cues that help users recognize and avoid increasingly sophisticated digital scams.

Our Impact

We aim to democratize digital safety, creating systems that protect users by default and educational interventions that empower them to navigate the digital world confidently and securely.