Digital technologies, such as mobile devices and social networks, play an increasingly significant role in intimate partner violence (IPV) settings, including domestic abuse, stalking, and surveillance of victims of abusive partners. IPV survivors increasingly report that abusers install spyware on devices, track locations, monitor communications, and cause emotional and physical harm. In collaboration with the IPV Tech Research Group and the NYC Mayor's Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence, I develop tools and technologies to improve the safety, security, and privacy of survivors of IPV. In this talk, I will discuss my ongoing research in helping survivors understand, navigate, and address technology abuse and how this work led to establishing the Clinic to End Tech Abuse (CETA) to help survivors determine whether their abusers are using technology as a tool to surveil and harm them and to mitigate this abuse. I will also discuss our recent work transitioning to a remote clinic to help survivors address technology abuse as well as the privacy and security challenges that have surfaced during quarantine due to COVID-19.
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Diana is a PhD candidate in the Department of Computer and Information Science at Cornell Tech. She uses computational and social science methods to develop new tools, technologies, and theories to detect and mitigate digital harms and inequities. In collaboration with the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence (ENDGBV) in New York City, she is working on advancing the current understanding of how digital technologies are used as tools of abuse in the context of IPV and adolescent interpersonal relationships. She is a 2020-22 Facebook Fellow, a 2019-20 Digital Life Doctoral Fellow, a recipient of the 2020 Cornell Serve in Place Grant, a recipient of the 2016 Engaged Cornell Graduate Student Grant, a 2015-18 NYU Visiting Scholar, and an Affiliate and 2015-16 Fellow at the Data and Society Research Institute. Diana is a graduate of NYU-ITP and Columbia University.