A new research methodology for complex ethical-technical security and privacy dilemmas

Obiettivo

"In this project, I propose Adversarial Participatory Research (APR), a ground-breaking research methodology that addresses complex ethical-technical dilemmas in the field of Security and Privacy (S&P). The S&P field is rife with such dilemmas, exemplified by the ongoing ""Crypto Wars"" debate surrounding surveillance and privacy. In the EU, privacy is a human right, but governments can override it for reasons like national security or public safety. Balancing these competing rights has been an unresolved issue for over thirty years. I believe a key reason for this is that while ethics is central to the issue, it is rarely explicitly integrated into the debates. Rather, participants often rely on inaccurate assumptions about the other side. This makes it very difficult to discern whether problems are rooted in ethical or technical issues, or an interplay of both. In addition to this, I hypothesise that many seemingly ethical problems have technological roots and could be addressed if both ethical and technical requirements were disentangled and clear. However, the many ethical requirements and technical options, each with their own limitations and consequences, create an incredibly complex problem space. The adversarial nature of S&P debates further complicates efforts to untangle these issues and develop solutions acceptable to both sides. Current research methodologies used by human-factors researchers in S&P are inadequate for studying such complex problems. To make progress on S&P dilemmas, a fundamental change in research approaches is needed. In this project, I combine cutting-edge methodologies from several related fields to develop the Adversarial Participatory Research methodology. Using APR I will provide a scientifically grounded understanding of the ethical frameworks used by stakeholders and disentangle selected dilemmas from three concrete ethico-technical debates in the areas of surveillance, online abuse and content control."