Kaushik and Wang receive best privacy paper award at SOUPS 2021

Smirity Kaushik
Smirity Kaushik
Yang Wang
Yang Wang, Associate Professor

A paper authored by PhD student Smirity Kaushik and Associate Professor Yang Wang received the IAPP SOUPS Privacy Award at the 17th Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS 2021). The symposium, which was held August 8-10, brings together an interdisciplinary group of researchers and practitioners in human-computer interaction, security, and privacy.

In the paper, "'How I Know For Sure': People's Perspectives on Solely Automated Decision-Making (SADM)," Kaushik, Wang, and coauthors Yaxing Yao (University of Maryland Baltimore County) and Pierre Dewitte (KU Leuven) describe the findings of their online study to explore people's understanding of SADM. According to the researchers, while the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union has granted citizens some rights regarding SADM, including obtaining an explanation of such processing, "it is unclear how organizations should support people in effectively exercising such rights."

"SADM is widely applicable in job searches, healthcare, banking loan approval, and others," said Kaushik. "However, SADM system-based decisions could lead to discrimination, social segregation, and loss of privacy. As a result, they could significantly or legally affect people."

The paper's authors offer design recommendations, including an icon for SADM processing that companies could add to their websites, "sandbox for SADM" to allow people to experiment with the SADM process, and personalized explanation templates to inform people about how SADM made a decision. They also offer policy recommendations such as mandating notifications to alert users when they are being subjected to SADM processing, similar to cookie notification.

Kaushik's research interests include human-computer interaction and user experience in social computing systems, with a focus on privacy policies and usable privacy and security. She holds an MS in information management from Syracuse University, BA LLB (JD equivalent in the U.S.), and BA in history from the University of Delhi.

Wang conducts research focusing on usable privacy and security technologies, social computing, human-computer interaction, and explainable artificial intelligence. He earned his PhD in information and computer science from the University of California, Irvine.

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

Desai defends dissertation

Doctoral candidate Smit Desai successfully defended his dissertation, "Designing Metaphor-fluid Voice User Interfaces," on June 10.

Smit Desai

Student says ‘thank you’ with a helicopter ride

Last month, Michael Ferrer showed his appreciation for one of his MSIM instructors in a unique way—by inviting him for an insider’s look at his work as a reservist in the Illinois Army National Guard. For the ILARNG BOSS Lift, which took place on June 18 at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, Ferrer selected Michael Wonderlich, iSchool adjunct lecturer and senior associate director of business intelligence and enterprise architecture for Administrative Information Technology Services (AITS) at the University of Illinois.

Michael Wonderlich and Michael Ferrer hold a U of I flag in front of a military helicopter

Project helps librarians use data storytelling to advocate for public libraries

A toolkit for public librarians can help them use data to communicate the value of their services and justify their funding needs. The Data Storytelling for Librarians Toolkit helps librarians present data in story form using narrative strategies. It was developed by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign information sciences professors.

Kate McDowell

Chan to deliver keynote at SIGCIS 2024

Associate Professor Anita Say Chan will deliver the keynote at the 15th annual conference of the SHOT (Society for the History of Technology) Special Interest Group for Computing, Information, and Society (SIGCIS), which will be held on July 14 in Viña del Mar, Chile. SIGCIS is the leading international group for historians with an interest in the history of information technology and its applications. The theme for SIGCIS 2024 is "System Update: Patches, Tactics, Responses."

Anita Say Chan

Mattson receives ISTE Making It Happen Award

Adjunct Lecturer Kristen Mattson has received the 2024 International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Making It Happen Award. The award honors educators and leaders who demonstrate outstanding commitment, leadership, courage, and persistence in improving digital learning opportunities for students.

Kristen Mattson