Recent News

Dr. Pamela Wisniewski recently participated as a panelist at the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) Working Group Meeting on Shaping Safer Digital Spaces for Kids. She joined Dr. Alice Marwick, Director of Research at the Data & Society Research

Congratulations to our postdoctoral scholar, Dr. Renkai Ma, on his new position as a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the University of Cincinnati’s School of Information Technology! Renkai will officially begin his faculty role in Fall 2025. Renkai’s research takes a

Congratulations to Dr. Leena Alghamdi! We are thrilled to share that Leena Alghamdi, a Computer Engineering PhD student in the STIR Lab and also at the University of Central Florida, has successfully defended her dissertation, “Improving smart home access control

We are thrilled to announce that Naima Samreen Ali, a third-year PhD student at Vanderbilt University, has successfully completed her Master of Science in Computer Science. Her research focuses on adolescent online safety, privacy, and social computing, approached from a

We are thrilled to announce that Sarvech Qadir, a third-year PhD student at Vanderbilt University, has recently earned his Master of Science in Computer Science from Vanderbilt University. His research revolves around adolescent online safety, leveraging Human-Computer Interaction and Machine

A senior design team of UCF Computer Science students presented their work on SafeLINC, a mobile app designed to improve suicide safety planning for youth aged 10-24. SafeLINC offers an interactive, secure, and culturally sensitive approach, addressing gaps in existing

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

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

Dr. Pamela Wisniewski, an expert in human-computer interaction and youth online safety, shared her views in Scientific American on the complex role of GPS tracking in parenting teens. Wisniewski emphasized, “It depends on how parents use the information. If it’s

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

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

Congratulations to our recent PhD graduate Dr. Akter and her advisor Dr. Pamela Wisniewski for showcasing their work on the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) blog. The blog discusses online and offline risks for youth, emphasizing the unique challenges

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

“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

We are thrilled to announce the outstanding achievements of our recent graduates and our postdoctoral fellow as they embark on exciting new chapters in their academic careers. Each of these scholars has secured prestigious tenure-track Assistant Professor positions at renowned

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,

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

Congratulations to Dr. Zainab Agha on successfully defending her doctoral dissertation entitled, “Co-designing & Evaluating Adolescent Online Safety Nudges with Teens.” We are extremely proud of her accomplishments and wish her continued success in her 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

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

Congratulations to our director, Dr. Pamela Wisniewski, who has been named to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Information Science and Technology (ISAT) study group. This prestigious appointment involves assessing future research directions in computer science. Dr. Wisniewski’s inclusion

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

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

Congratulations to Dr. Wisniewski for being awarded a Secure and Trustworthy Computing (SaTC) National Science Foundation (NSF) grant entitled, “Collaborative Research: SaTC: CORE: Medium: Using Intelligent Conversational Agents to Empower Adolescents to be Resilient Against Cybergrooming,” under the Computer and

Our PhD candidate Zainab Agha is giving a talk as part of LIVE Sprak weekly talks at Vanderbilt University. The talk will take place this Wednesday, April 3rd, and will be about incorporating human-centered design practices in research. Zainab Agha

Congratulations to STIR Lab undergraduate students Yiwei Wang, Enya Bullard, and Abbie Chen on presenting their research titled “Designing a Social Media Simulation to Evaluate Online Safety Nudges” at the Vanderbilt Undergraduate Research Fair, mentored by PhD candidate Zainab Agha. The Vanderbilt

Congratulations to Xavier Caddle, Jinkyung Park, and Pamela Wisniewski on their recent paper publication at the Future of Information and Communication Conference (FICC). The Paper explores strategies for online youth protection, drawing on interviews with 38 stakeholders in the field.

In a recent blog post for the Imagining the Digital Future Center, Dr. Pamela Wisniewski shared concerns about regulating AI without clear definitions, citing a 2023 White House initiative on AI Accountability and related lawsuits. She emphasized the critical role