Research & Publications - The Center for Privacy and Security for Marginalized and Vulnerable Populations (PRISM)

Our Research

Our proposed project creates a multi-institution, multi-disciplinary effort to develop a holistic approach to security and privacy for M&V populations. Our ambitious goals are to create security & privacy design principles that can mitigate harm and improve the benefit of technology for M&V populations. These principles will be based on strong technical foundations, social science theory, and direct collaboration with M&V communities, and will be synthesized through sustained investigation of different marginalized populations and their needs and the existing and emerging technologies with which they interact.

Publications

The research output from 2023 to 2025 is unified by four guiding themes that bridge the gap between technical security and the lived experiences of marginalized and vulnerable (M&V) populations. This body of work critically analyzes Power Dynamics by investigating how technology facilitates surveillance and coercion in contexts like carceral systems, immigration, and digitally-mediated labor. It centers on the fundamental psychological needs of Autonomy, Control, and Belonging, addressing how emerging threats like AI-generated imagery and “sharenting” can thwart an individual’s liberty and mastery over their digital self. Furthermore, the research interrogates Sociodemographic by auditing algorithmic bias and challenging the “default persona” that often excludes users based on race, gender, or disability. Finally, the work examines Interfaces and Interaction, exploring how the design of systems, from Extended Reality (XR) to Smart Cities, can be leveraged to either mediate these power imbalances or foster more inclusive, secure environments.

The following list organizes these contributions by year:

Characterizing the Impact of Generative AI Biases

Authors: Zhuowei (Vivi) Gu, Tadayoshi Kohno, and Franziska Roesner.
Published: Proceedings of the 2025 AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (AIES ’25), 2025.

A Composite Privacy Mechanism to Mitigate Multimodal Re-Identification Attacks in XR

Published: IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), March 2026. (To be presented at the IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (IEEE VR) 2026).

Analyzing the AI Nudification Application Ecosystem

Authors: Cassidy Gibson, Daniel Olszewski, Natalie Grace Brigham, Anna Crowder, Kevin Butler, Patrick Traynor, Elissa M. Redmiles, and Tadayoshi Kohno.
Published: Proceedings of the 34th USENIX Security Symposium (Security’25), Seattle, WA, USA, August 2025. (bibtex)

To Reveal or Conceal: Privacy and Marginalization in Avatars

Authors: Mattea Sim, Basia Radka, Emi Yoshikawa, Franziska Roesner, Kurt Hugenberg, and Tadayoshi Kohno.
Published: Proceedings of the 25th Privacy Enhancing Security Technologies Symposium (PETS 2025), Washington, DC, USA, July 2025.

A Common Pool of Privacy Problems: Legal and Technical Lessons from a Large-Scale Web-Scraped Machine Learning Dataset

Authors:Rachel Hong, Jevan Hutson, William Agnew, Imaad Huda, Tadayoshi Kohno and Jaime Morgenstern.
Published: June 2025.

Understanding experiences with compulsory immigration surveillance in the U.S.

Authors: Kentrell Owens, Yael Eiger, Basia Radka, Tadayoshi Kohno, Franziska Roesner.
Published: Proceedings of the 2025 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAccT 2025) June 2025.

Characterizing the Default Persona During Design: Mental Representations of Technology Users are Gendered

Authors: Mattea Sim, Basia Radka, Tadayoshi Kohno, Franziska Roesner, Kurt Hugenberg.
Published: Proceedings of the 2025 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAccT 2025) June 2025.

Extending the Heilmeier catechism to evaluate security & privacy systems: Who is left out?

Authors: Kevin Butler, Kurt Hugenberg, Eakta Jain, Apu Kapadia, Tadayoshi Kohno, Elissa Redmiles, Franziska Roesner, Mattea Sim, Patrick Traynor, and Hanna Barakat.
Published: IEEE Security and Privacy, May/June 2025.

Data to Infinity and Beyond: Examining Data Sharing and Usage Practices in the Computer Security Community

Authors: Anna Crowder, Allison Lu, Kevin Childs, Carson Stillman, Patrick Traynor, and Kevin Butler.
Published: Proceedings of the 46th IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (S&P 2025), San Francisco, CA, USA, May 2025.

“You Have to Ignore the Dangers”: User Perceptions of the Security and Privacy Benefits of WhatsApp Mods

Authors: Collins W. Munyendo, Kentrell Owens, Faith Strong, Shaoqi Wang, Adam J. Aviv, Tadayoshi Kohno, and Franziska Roesner.
Published: Proceedings of the 46th IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (S&P 2025), San Francisco, CA, USA, May 2025.

Opto-diversity and Eye Tracking: Assumptions about ocular alignment in virtual reality eye tracking exclude users with strabismus and amblyopia

Authors: Shaina Murphy, Shakthi Sampath, Ethan Wilson, Karina LaRubbio, Ethan Smith, Apu Kapadia, and Eakta Jain.
Published: ACM Transactions on Applied Perception, May 2025.

Coach, Data Analyst, and Protector: Exploring Data Practices of Collegiate</strong> <strong>Sports Coaching Staff

Authors: Mollie Brewer, Kevin Childs, Spencer Thomas, Celeste Wilkins, Kristy Elizabeth Boyer, Jennifer A. Nichols, Kevin Butler, Garrett F. Beatty, and Daniel P. Ferris.
Published: Proceedings of the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI’25), Yokohama, Japan, April 2025. (bibtex)

Teachers’ Perspectives on Student Generation of Synthetic Nonconsensual Explicit Imagery

Authors: Miranda Wei, Christina Yeung, Tadayoshi Kohno, and Franziska Roesner.
Published: Proceedings of the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI’25), Yokohama, Japan, April 2025. (bibtex)

User Comprehension and Comfort with Eye-Tracking and Hand-Tracking Permissions in Augmented Reality

Authors:Kaiming Cheng, Mattea Sim, Tadayoshi Kohno and Franziska Roesner.
Published: 15th Usable Security and Privacy Symposium (USEC) February 2025.

Characterizing the Impact of Audio Deepfakes in the Presence of Cochlear Implant Simulated Audio

Authors: Magdalena Pasternak, Kevin Warren, Daniel Olszewski, Susan Nittrouer, Patrick Traynor, and Kevin Butler.
Published: Proceedings of the ISOC Symposium on Network and Distributed System Security (NDSS), San Diego, CA, USA, February 2025. (bibtex)

“Better Be Computer or I’m Dumb”: A Large-Scale Evaluation of Humans as Audio Deepfake Detectors

Authors: Kevin Warren, Tyler Tucker, Anna Crowder, Daniel Olszewski, Allison Lu, Caroline Fedele, Magdalena Pasternak, Seth Layton, Kevin Butler, Carrie Gates and Patrick Traynor.
Published: Proceedings of the 2024 on ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security December 2024.

I Can Show You the World (of Censorship): Extracting Insights from Censorship Measurement Data Using Statistical Techniques

Authors: Anna Crowder, Daniel Olszewski, Patrick Traynor, and Kevin Butler.
Published: Proceedings of the 2024 Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC 2024), Honolulu, HI, USA, December 2024. (bibtex)

Safer Algorithmically-Mediated Offline Introductions: Harms and Protective Behaviors

Authors: Veronica A. Rivera, Daricia Wilkinson, Aurelia Augusta, Sophie Li, Elissa M. Redmiles, and Angelika Strohmayer.
Published: Proceedings of the 27th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2024), San Jose, Costa Rica, November 2024.

Who’s in and who’s out? A case study of multimodal CLIP-filtering in DataComp

Authors: Rachel Hong, William Agnew, Tadayoshi Kohno and Jaime Morgenstern.
Published: Proceedings of the 4th ACM Conference on Equity and Access in Algorithms, Mechanisms, and Optimization October 2024.

Face the Facts: Using Face Averaging to Visualize Gender-by-Race Bias in Facial Analysis Algorithms

Authors: Kentrell Owens, Erin Freiburger, Ryan Hutchings, Mattea Sim, Kurt Hugenberg, Franziska Roesner, and Tadayoshi Kohno.
Published: Proceedings of the 7th AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (AIES 2024), October 2024.

I Had Sort of a Sense That I Was Always Being Watched…Since I Was”: Examining Interpersonal Discomfort From Continuous Location-Sharing Applications

Authors: Kevin Childs, Cassidy Gibson, Anna Crowder, Kevin Warren, Carson Stillman, Elissa M. Redmiles, Eakta Jain, Patrick Traynor, and Kevin Butler.
Published: In Proceedings of the 31st ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS’24), Salt Lake City, UT, USA. October 2024.

Toward Safer Intimate Futures: Recommendations for Tech Platforms to Reduce Image Based Sexual Abuse

Authors: Lucy Qin, Vaughn Hamilton, Sharon Wang, Yigit Aydinalp, Marin Scarlett, and Elissa M. Redmiles.
Published: In Proceedings of the 33rd USENIX Security Symposium (USENIX Security ’24), Philadelphia, PA, USA, 55-72. August 2024. (bibtex)

“‘But they have overlooked a few things in Afghanistan:’ An Analysis of the Integration of Biometric Voter Verification in the 2019 Afghan Presidential Elections

Authors: Kabir Panahi, Shawn Robertson, Yasemin Acar, Alexandru G. Bardas, Tadayoshi Kohno, and Lucy Simko.
Published: Proceedings of the 33rd USENIX Security Symposium (USENIX Security ’24), Philadelphia, PA, USA, August 2024.

“I feel physically safe but not politically safe”: Understanding the Digital Threats and Safety Practices of OnlyFans Creators

Authors: Ananta Soneji, Vaughn Hamilton, Adam Doupé, Allison McDonald, and Elissa M. Redmiles.
Published: Proceedings of the 33rd USENIX Security Symposium (USENIX Security ’24), Philadelphia, PA, USA, August 2024.

“Did They F***ing Consent to That?”: Safer Digital Intimacy via Proactive Protection Against Image-Based Sexual Abuse

Authors: Lucy Qin, Vaughn Hamilton, Sharon Wang, Yigit Aydinalp, Marin Scarlett, and Elissa M. Redmiles.
Published: In Proceedings of the 33rd USENIX Security Symposium (USENIX Security ’24), Philadelphia, PA, USA, August 2024.

SoK (or SoLK?): On the Quantitative Study of Sociodemographic Factors and Computer Security Behaviors

Authors: Miranda Wei, Jaron Mink, Yael Eiger and Tadayoshi Kohno, Elissa M. Redmiles, and Franziska Roesner.
Published: In Proceedings of the 33rd USENIX Security Symposium (USENIX Security ’24), Philadelphia, PA, USA, August 2024.

“Violation of my body:” Perceptions of AI-generated non-consensual (intimate) imagery

Authors: Natalie Grace Brigham, Miranda Wei, Tadayoshi Kohno, and Elissa M. Redmiles.
Published: In Proceedings of the 20th Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS 2024), Philadelphia, PA, USA, August 2024.

“Studying manipulation and persuasiveness of Smart Voice Assistants”

Authors: Sabid Bin Habib Pias, Ran Huang, Donald S. Williamson, Minjeong Kim, and Apu Kapadia.
Published: Proceedings of the 6th ACM Conference on Conversational User Interfaces (CUI 2024), Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, July 2024. (bibtex)

It’s Trying Too Hard To Look Real: Deepfake Moderation Mistakes and Identity-Based Bias.

Authors: Jaron Mink, Miranda Wei, Collins W. Munyendo, Kurt Hugenberg, Tadayoshi Kohno, Elissa M. Redmiles, and Gang Wang.
Published: Proceedings of the 2024 ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2024), Honolulu, HI, USA, May 2024. (bibtex)

Sharenting on TikTok: Exploring Parental Sharing Behaviors and the Discourse Around Children’s Online Privacy

Authors: Sophie Stephenson, Christopher Nathaniel Page, Miranda Wei, Apu Kapadia, and Franziska Roesner.
Published: Proceedings of the 2024 ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2024), Honolulu, HI, USA, May 2024. (bibtex)

Privacy-Preserving Gaze Data Streaming in Immersive Interactive Virtual Reality: Robustness and User Experience

Authors: Ethan Wilson, Azim Ibragimov, Michael J. Proulx, Sai Deep Tetali, Kevin Butler, and Eakta Jain.
Published: IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics. March 2024.

Safer Digital Intimacy for Sex Workers and Beyond: A Technical Research Agenda

Authors: Vaughn Hamilton, Gabriel Kaptchuk, Allison McDonald, and Elissa M. Redmiles.
Published: IEEE S&P Magazine, March/April 2024. (bibtex)

Characterizing Authorship and Obfuscation in Stalkerware Apps

Authors: Enas Al-Rawas, Phoebe Moh, and Patrick Traynor.

Published: IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine, January/February 2024.

Gender Biases in Tone Analysis: A Case Study of a Commercial Wearable.

Authors: Christina Yeung, Umar Iqbal, Tadayoshi Kohno, and Franziska Roesner.
Published: Proceedings of the 3rd ACM Conference on Equity and Access in Algorithms, Mechanisms, and Optimization, 1-12. October 2023.

A scalable inclusive security intervention to center marginalized & vulnerable populations in Security & Privacy design.

Authors: Mattea Sims, Kurt Hugenberg, Tadayoshi Kohno, and Franziska Roesner.
Published: Proceedings of the 2023 New Security Paradigms Workshop, 102-115. September 2023.

Ethical Frameworks and Computer Security Trolley Problems: Foundations for Conversations.

Authors: Tadayoshi Kohno, Yasemin Acar, and Wulf Loh.
Published: Proceedings of the 32nd USENIX Security Symposium (Security’23), Anaheim, CA, USA, August 2023. Distinguished Paper Award.

Exploring User Reactions and Mental Models Towards Perceptual Manipulation Attacks in Mixed Reality.

Authors: Kaiming Cheng, Jeffery F. Tian, Tadayoshi Kohno, and Franziska Roesner.
Published: Proceedings of the 32nd USENIX Security Symposium (Security’23), Anaheim, CA, USA, August 2023.

Privacy-preserving datasets of eye-tracking samples with applications in XR

Authors: Brendan David-John, Diane Hosfelt, Kevin Butler, and Eakta Jain.
Published: IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, May 2023. Best paper nominee at IEEE VR 2023.

How Language Formality in Security and Privacy Interfaces Impacts Intended Compliance.

Authors: Jackson Stokes, Tal August, Robert Marver, Alexei Czeskis, Franziska Roesner, Tadayoshi Kohno, and Katharina Reinecke.
Published: Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), Hamburg, Germany, April 2023.

Eliciting Security & Privacy-Informed Sharing Techniques for Multi-User Augmented Reality.

Authors: Shwetha Rajaram, Chen Chen, Franziska Roesner, and Michael Nebeling.
Published: Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), Hamburg, Germany, April 2023

Give me some room please! Personal space bubbles for safety and performance.

Authors: Karina LaRubbio, Ethan Wilson, Sanjeev Koppal, Sophie Jörg, and Eakta Jain.
Published: IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW), 897-898. March 2023.

Looking Backwards (and Forwards): NSF Secure and Trustworthy Computing 20-Year Retrospective Panel Transcription.

Authors: Carl Landwehr, Michael K. Reiter, Laurie Williams, Gene Tsudik, Trent. Jaeger, Tadayoshi Kohno, and Apu Kapadia.
Published: IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine, March/April 2023.

“Modeling User Characteristics Associated with Interdependent Privacy Perceptions on Social Media,”

Authors: Mary Jean Amon, Aaron Necaise, Nika Kartvelishvili, Aneka Williams, Yan Solihin, and Apu Kapadia.
Published: ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), January 2023. (bibtex)(acm)

Online Advertising in Ukraine and Russia During the 2022 Russian Invasion.

Authors: Christina Yeung, Umar Iqbal, Yekaterina Tsipenyuk O’Neil, Tadayoshi Kohno and Franziska Roesner.
Published: The Web Conference (WebConf), May 2023.

Power in Computer Security and Privacy: A Critical Lens.

Authors: E.M. Redmiles, Mia M. Bennett, and Tadayoshi Kohno.
Published: IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine, March/April 2023. (bibtex)

Skilled or Gullible? Gender Stereotypes Related to Computer Security and Privacy.

Authors: Miranda Wei, Pardis Emami-Naeini, Franziska Roesner, and Tadayoshi Kohno.
Published: 43rd IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (Oakland), May 2023.

“Threat modeling and consideration of M&V populations”

Authors: Mattea Sim, Kurt Hugenberg, Tadayoshi Kohno, and Franziska Roesner.
Published: NSPW, December 2023.

The Writing on the Wall and 3D Digital Twins: Personal Information in (not so) Private Real Estate.

Authors: Rachel McAmis and Tadayoshi Kohno.
Published: USENIX Security Symposium, August 2023.

“There’s so much responsibility on users right now:” Expert Advice for Staying Safer From Hate and Harassment.

Authors: Miranda Wei, Sunny Consolvo, Patrick Gage Kelley, Tadayoshi Kohno, Franziska Roesner, and Kurt Thomas.
Published: ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), April 2023.

Understanding People’s Concerns and Attitudes Toward Smart Cities.

Authors: Pardis Emami-Naeini, Jospeh Breda, Wei Dai, Tadayoshi Kohno, Kim Laine, Shwetak Patel, and Franziska Roesner.
Published: ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), April 2023.