How Geopolitical Change Causes People to Become (More) Vulnerable

Computer security and privacy is critical for vulnerable and marginalized populations. Vulnerable populations might face more determined adversaries or higher consequences for security and privacy breaches. Vulnerability can be caused by change, like undergoing life changing events including environmental or manmade crises that can affect all humans at various stages in their lives. It is therefore of critical importance for computer security and privacy to understand the interactions between change and computer security and privacy. In this talk, I will explore this relationship based on four populations that experienced change: (1) refugees who moved to the united states; (2) Sudanese activist in the 2018-2019 Sudanese revolution; (3) those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic; (4) and those experiencing a Hurricane in the mainland United States in 2021. Based on my research with these populations, I describe three major themes that characterize the relationship between change and computer security and privacy: (1) Change creates different elements of one's threat model---actors, threats, assets---as well as different technical needs. (2) During a period of change, people may change how they prioritize computer security and privacy in response to other emergent needs. (3) When technology design is misaligned with the needs and uses of marginalized populations, it causes those populations to have to work harder to maintain security and privacy, exacerbating existing systemic inequalities during times of change. Based on this understanding of how change interacts with computer security and privacy, I recommend how we can design for change: by centering the needs of those affected by change and marginalization, reducing vulnerability for all.