Sanfilippo edits book on privacy

Madelyn Sanfilippo
Madelyn Rose Sanfilippo, Assistant Professor

Assistant Professor Madelyn Rose Sanfilippo has co-edited a new book, Governing Privacy in Knowledge Commons, with Brett M. Frischmann (Villanova University School of Law) and Katherine J. Strandburg (New York University School of Law). The book, which was recently published by Cambridge University Press, explores the complex and dynamic relationships between privacy, governance, and the production, cultivation, and sharing of knowledge.

Governing Privacy features several case studies across academia, social media, mental health, and the Internet of Things (IoT). One of the examples is Sanfilippo's own study of political activists and IoT users.

"It was wonderful to bring together so many thoughtful individuals, all considering privacy and governance to explore their cases in parallel, so as to help us better understand general principles about how personal information is collaboratively governed as resources and how privacy itself governs participatory communities and platforms," said Sanfilippo. "One of the biggest insights from this work is how important the legitimacy of governance is relative to privacy. We need to make sure that people have both choices about how to share their personal information and the means to express their expectations about privacy."

Sanfilippo's research empirically explores governance of sociotechnical systems as well as outcomes, inequality, and consequences within these systems. She earned her MS and PhD in information science from Indiana University.

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

iSchool researchers to present at CHI 2025

iSchool faculty and students will present their research at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2025), which will be held from April 26 to May 1 in Yokohama, Japan. 

Undergraduate Research Symposium features iSchool students and mentors

Several iSchool undergraduate students will participate in the 18th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. During the event, visitors will learn about undergraduate research projects through oral and poster presentations, creative performances, and art exhibits. All are welcome to attend the symposium, which will be held on April 24 from 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. in the Illini Rooms and South Lounge of the Illini Union. Oral presentations will be held on the second floor of the Illini Union.

Wang wins grand prize at Research Live!

Informatics PhD student Olivia Wang won the Grand Prize at the 2025 Research Live! competition, which was held on April 8 in the Campus Instructional Facility Atrium. At the event, which is hosted by the Graduate College, thirteen finalists presented their graduate research in three minutes or less to a general audience. Wang received $500 as the Grand Prize winner.

Olivia Wang

Zhou defends dissertation

Doctoral candidate Kyrie Zhixuan Zhou successfully defended his dissertation, "A Pragmatic and Human-centered Approach to Promoting Software Accessibility: Design, Education, Governance," on April 3.

Zhixuan Zhou

Knox appointed interim dean

Professor Emily Knox has been appointed to serve as interim dean of the School of Information Sciences, pending approval by the Board of Trustees. Until officially approved, her title will be interim dean designate. The appointment will begin April 1, 2025.

Emily Knox