SoK: A Framework for Unifying At-Risk User Research

• Published in: 2022 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (SP) pp. 2344 - 2360
• Main Authors: Warford, Noel, Matthews, Tara, Yang, Kaitlyn, Akgul, Omer, Consolvo, Sunny, Kelley, Patrick Gage, Malkin, Nathan, Mazurek, Michelle L., Sleeper, Manya, Thomas, Kurt
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01-05-2022
• Subjects: Cognition; Faces; hate-harassment-and-online-abuse; human-computer-interaction; Privacy; Security; Shape; Sociology; Statistics; usable-security-and-privacy
• ISSN: 2375-1207
• DOI: 10.1109/SP46214.2022.9833643

At-risk users are people who experience risk factors that augment or amplify their chances of being digitally attacked and/or suffering disproportionate harms. In this systematization work, we present a framework for reasoning about at-risk users based on a wide-ranging meta-analysis of 95 papers. Across the varied populations that we examined (e.g., children, activists, people with disabilities), we identified 10 unifying contextual risk factors -such as marginalization and access to a sensitive resource -that augment or amplify digital-safety risks and their resulting harms. We also identified technical and non-technical practices that at-risk users adopt to attempt to protect themselves from digital-safety risks. We use this framework to discuss barriers that limit at-risk users' ability or willingness to take protective actions. We believe that researchers and technology creators can use our framework to identify and shape research investments to benefit at-risk users, and to guide technology design to better support at-risk users.