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Improving the Privacy and Safety for Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence
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Diana Freed
Diana Freed

Cornell Tech

Improving the Privacy and Safety for Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

Digital technologies, such as mobile devices and social networks, play an increasingly significant role in intimate partner violence (IPV) settings, including domestic abuse, stalking, and surveillance of victims of abusive partners. IPV survivors increasingly report that abusers install spyware on devices, track locations, monitor communications, and cause emotional and physical harm. In collaboration with the Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Tech Research Group and the NYC Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence, I focus on developing tools and technologies to improve the safety, security, and privacy of survivors of IPV. In this talk I will discuss my ongoing research in helping survivors understand, navigate, and address technology abuse and how this work led to establishing the Clinic to End Tech Abuse (CETA) to help survivors determine whether their abusers are using technology as a tool to surveil and harm them and to mitigate this abuse. I will also discuss our recent work transitioning to a remote clinic to help survivors address technology abuse as well as the privacy and security challenges that have surfaced during quarantine due to COVID-19.

About

Diana is a PhD student in Computer and Information Science at Cornell Tech. Her research interests are in computer security and privacy, usable security, human-computer interaction (HCI), as well as health technologies. She works with the Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Tech Research Group, in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence where she focuses on developing tools and technologies to improve the safety, security, and privacy of survivors of IPV. Diana has been awarded a 2020 Facebook Fellowship, is a recipient of the Engaged Cornell Graduate Student Grant, a 2019 ACM CSCW Honorable Mention for Best Paper, the 2018 ACM CHI Best Paper Award, and a 2018 CSCW special recognition for her contribution to diversity and inclusion. She is an Affiliate and 2015-16 Fellow at the Data and Society Research Institute, a visiting scholar and a graduate of NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), and a graduate of Columbia University. As a DLI fellow, Diana studies privacy and security considerations of vulnerable populations when designing and developing digital tools.

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