Papers presented at the Privacy and Usability Methods (PUMP) Workshop, British HCI Conference 2010
by chrysanthi.papoutsi
Members of the Privacy Value Networks project presented papers at the Privacy and Usability Methods (PUMP) Workshop, organised in Dundee, Scotland as part of the British HCI Conference 2010. Here are the two papers I co-authored:
The first paper reports on work-in-progress towards the development of an automated privacy dictionary, led by Dr Asimina Vasalou at the University of Bath. In a previous study, the prototype theory from the field of linguistics was applied, in order to construct a set of sufficient and inclusive criteria for the conceptualization of privacy. Building on the features emanating from this privacy prototype, the paper explains how the research team will adopt a linguistic approach to study privacy relevant discourse. Apart from its theoretical contribution, this work aims at contributing a new methodological tool to accurately identify privacy relevant language.
The second paper is co-authored by Fadhila Mazanderani, Dr Ian Brown and myself at the University of Oxford. We report on the qualitative research practices employed in the two empirical studies we carried out in relation to technology development and use in HIV care. The discussion focuses on the methodological challenges involved in the study of privacy within this environment. We approach the topic with an ethnographically informed view and emphasise on four themes: the role of institutional, organisational and personal gatekeepers; identity politics around research topics, researchers and participants; the temporal and spatial contingency of access and disclosure; and micro-negotiations around privacy in interview settings. Apart from studying how research subjects understand and enact privacy in their environment, research interactions themselves involve a significant amount of information as to how privacy can be conceptualized. This paper stresses the importance of reflexivity around the ways researchers and participants enact privacy within research interactions. By including this understanding in the analysis of data collected during fieldwork, we can enrich the study of privacy and rethink broader methodological problems of the field.