Recent News

A senior design team of UCF Computer Science undergraduate students completed their almost year-long work on Mi Casa es Su Casa (MiSu) with a final presentation recently. Starting in Spring 2024, the team collaborated with the Socio-Technical Interaction Research Lab to develop an Android and iOS app focused on secure...

WASHINGTON (TNND) — Popular online gaming platform Roblox has introduced new parental control features aimed at improving safety for young users. Speaking to The National News Desk, Dr. Pam Wisniewski, a computer science professor at Vanderbilt University and also a mother, shared her perspective on the changes and the ongoing...

OSTP Workshop on Ethical Considerations in Youth Online Safety Research Dr. Pamela Wisniewski, an expert in human-computer interaction and youth online safety, participated in a workshop hosted by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) on October 15, 2024. The event, "Ethical Considerations when Studying Youth Online,"...

The Internet offers kids and teens many positive things, but there's also a dark side targeting young people. Pamela Wisniewski, PhD, a specialist in privacy and online safety for adolescents, Associate Professor of Computer Science at Vanderbilt University offers expert advice to keep your kids safe online. Listen to the...

In a series of six engaging roundtable discussions led by the Computing Community Consortium (CCC), 40 computing research experts from academia, industry, and government explored the complexities of interdisciplinary computing.  "Honestly, I think this is the biggest problem we need to tackle moving forward – in changing the perceptions of...

"Do we need cellphones in the classroom disrupting a teacher giving a lecture, no, do we need to have cell phones for health management or to be able to communicate with family members during an emergency, possibly," Dr.Wisniewski talks to WJLA News on the brimming topic of cell phone bans...

In a recent article for CNN Health, Dr. Wisniewski emphasized the importance of empowering youth with informed choices rather than restrictive measures, stressing the need for solutions that balance risks and benefits. She advocated for avoiding fear-based or restrictive approaches, highlighting the necessity for nuanced strategies. Read the full article...

Congratulations to Dr. Xavier Caddle on the successful defense of his doctoral dissertation. Dr. Caddle will be joining the Computer Science department at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) as a visiting professor. We are immensely proud of his achievements and wish him great success in his career.

Congratulations to our postdoctorate Dr. Jinkyung (Katie) Park for winning the prestigious 2024 iSchools Doctoral Dissertation Award! Dr. Park's dissertation has been recognized for its innovative research and significant contribution to the field of information science. The iSchools Doctoral Dissertation Award, introduced in 2013, is a prestigious annual competition that...

Congratulations to Dr. Mamtaj Akter on successfully defending her doctoral dissertation entitled, “Leveraging Community Oversight to Promote Mobile Privacy and Security Within Trusted Communities.” Dr. Akter will begin a tenure-track Assistant Professor position next fall in the Computer Science Department at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT). We are incredibly...

Congratulations to Dr. Ashwaq Alsoubai on successfully defending her doctoral dissertation entitled, “A Human-Centered Approach to Improving Adolescent Real-Time Online Risk Detection Algorithms.” Dr. Alsoubai will be starting an Assistant Professor position in the Computer Science Department at King Abdulaziz University next fall. We are extremely proud of her accomplishments and...

Congratulations to our recent PhD graduate Dr. Alsoubai and her advisor Dr. Pamela Wisniewski for showcasing their work on the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) blog. The blog discusses the challenges youth face in the digital world, focusing on privacy breaches, cyber threats, and the impact of social media...