Workshop on Societal Impact for Usable Privacy and Security Research

This workshop brings together a community of researchers interested in identifying ways to create significant, sustained impact that tangibly improves people's security, privacy, and safety. Creating societal impact remains a critical challenge for our research community, as we continue to struggle to translate research insights into action.

Too often, projects conclude with published papers without follow-through toward real-world change—whether through technology design, policy development, sustained community programs, or other efforts that meaningfully impact people's lives.

Creating societal impact requires time, labor, and expertise, often demanding new skills that can be difficult to develop and sustain within current academic structures. Our community lacks established methods for understanding and reporting the downstream effects of research, including the adoption of recommendations and the sustainability of proposed interventions. At this workshop, we will highlight examples of good practice and work together to develop strategies for improving impact.

We invite participation from researchers of all backgrounds, including faculty, early-stage PhD students, and those working in industry or government. We ask that participants submit a short reflection essay (~500 words) that includes:

1. An overview of your past, current, and aspirational work in usable privacy and security;
2. Any real-world impact of your work, or aspirations for future impact; and
3. Challenges you have faced or anticipate facing in achieving such impact.

Submit your reflection essay: TBA link

As part of the workshop, you will engage in discussions of your reflections with other attendees.

Questions? Contact Warda Usman at warda.usman@walmart.com or Daniel Zappala at zappala@cs.byu.edu