I am a privacy researcher. My research lies in the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Privacy, and Accessibility. I aim to enhance people's privacy literacy and empower them with more control of their privacy in our increasingly complicated socio-technical environment. My research covers various technological contexts (e.g., smart homes, virtual reality, online privacy) and several user groups, including at-risk populations (e.g., people with disabilities, children, and teenagers) from the following three directions:

  • Understanding privacy: I aim to understand the privacy perceptions, needs, expectations, and behaviors of different user groups. I am particularly interested in the tension among different stakeholders in these environments, such as the conflicting needs between users and bystanders in smart homes.
  • Engineering privacy: I build systems and interventions to inform people of their nearby data practices and help them take control of their privacy. I am particularly interested in exploring solutions that account for the needs of different stakeholders (i.e., a multi-stakeholder lens) rather than prioritizing one stakeholder's needs over another's.
  • Educating privacy: I design and construct interactive artifacts to educate people about various privacy and cybersecurity concepts.

Recently, I start to expand my work in a few directions, including blockchain security, dark pattern notice and intervention, and self-representation in virtual reality. I draw inspiration and methodologies from many different fields, such as HCI, information sciences, computer sciences, social psychology, and behavioral economics. I publish at top HCI/privacy venues, such as CHI, CSCW, SOUPS, USENIX Security, PoPETS, ASSETS, etc. My work has been generously supported by the National Science Foundation, Meta, and Google.

Prior to joining CS@VT, I spent 2.5 wonderful years as an assistant professir in the Department of Information Systems at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and a postdoctoral researcher in the Institute for Software Research at Carnegie Mellon University. I completed my PhD in Information Science from the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University (2020). Before I joined the PhD program at Syracuse, I was a professional software engineer at a startup in Seattle, WA. I received my Master of Science in Information Management from the Information School at the University of Washington (2014), and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Harbin Institute of Technology in China (2012).

For prospective students: I am looking for motivated students to work with me on topics related to HCI, usable privacy, accessibility, and emerging technologies. If you are interested, please send me your CV and a brief introduction of your research interests.

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