The Effect of Social Media Platforms on Neglected Countries and Diaspora Communities: An Investigation into the Eritrean Case

4 January 2024

RESEARCH QUESTION  The research aims to provide a comprehensive picture of the manner in which social media platforms are used by Eritreans in the country and diaspora communities, including an analysis of the role of social media platforms in the Tigray conflict. The main research question is: What is the impact of social media platforms…

Read More

Web PKI and Non-Governmental Governance of Trust on the Internet

4 January 2024

RESEARCH QUESTION  This research addresses the question of how private sector governance mechanisms interact with technology to produce trust and security on the Web. The project provides an independent assessment of Web PKI as a system of security governance. It explains and explores how it works, what actors are involved in it, how it is…

Read More

The Economic Consequences of Digital Dark Patterns

4 January 2024

RESEARCH QUESTION  The research objective is to measure the economic impacts of dark patterns in the context of consumer data sharing in the US. Companies often design digital interfaces that manipulate or coerce users into actions they may not take otherwise. These designs are called “dark patterns” when they create consumer harm. The “economic impact”…

Read More

Privacy is Essential to a Trustworthy Internet: the Case of Divvi Up

4 January 2024
An illustrative photo of a woman with a cellphone to show Identification and privacy in context of modern digital technologies.

RESEARCH QUESTION  Divvi Up is a system developed to provide privacy-respecting metrics for COVID-19 exposure notification apps. This research focuses on discovering, designing, building, and testing to determine what is required in order to deliver Internet-scale privacy benefits across a wide range of use cases, with ease of use and accessibility as core attributes. The…

Read More

US K12 EdTech Safety Benchmark Findings & Data Publication

4 January 2024

RESEARCH QUESTION  The original primary research question was about the safety of EdTech used in US K12 schools, and the findings indicated that the vast majority of the examined technology shared student data with risky third parties. The present research aims to better understand the actual data being shared and answer additional questions from the…

Read More