[ATTW-L] Call for Research Participants

[Morgan Banville]

Dear reader,

Through this email I wish to invite you to partake in my research study ‘Privacy by Design; Ensuring privacy in the use of Menstruation-tracking applications’.

By joining me in an interview you will help me in creating valuable insights in how the privacy of menstruators could be ensured more thoroughly.

Background
Menstruation tracking is an extremely private practice for many people who menstruate, which can use these apps in all sorts of different ways. They can track their cycle, ovulation, PMS and all sorts of other bodily functions and/or dysfunctions. 

The use of menstruation tracking apps is extremely private, yet is not always treated as such by the companies behind these apps and by the governing authorities of the country in which the apps can be used. My research zooms in on the idea of Privacy by Design as grounded within the European General Data Protection Regulation, which requires the highest standards of privacy to be integrated in the initial development phases of technology and apps. Yet the principles of Privacy by Design lack practical applicability, which I wish to improve. 

By researching what menstruating bodies experience in terms of privacy when using these apps ánd by discovering further how to apply Privacy by Design in the best way possible, I will hope to present findings on how menstruation can be best kept private online.

My goal
I aim to provide a study which moves towards a future where the application of Privacy by Design will give creators behind menstruation tracking apps no other option than to keep personal data of users private, even despite what the company creating the app might desire and even despite the ruling of e.g. state authorities. 

Who are you?
I am looking for participants who are able to join in an online interview of 45 to 60 minutes, latest April 23. This can either be menstruating people who use or have used menstruation tracking apps OR people who have expertise within the field of privacy and/or security (not necessarily knowledgeable with Privacy by Design or Menstruation tracking apps). 

Contact information
I am a Dutch student from the Erasmus University Rotterdam and I am writing my Master’s thesis on this topic to graduate from the Master Digitalisation, Surveillance and Society.
If you are interested in participating or know someone who would, please reach out to me at famkevisser78 at gmail.com <mailto:famkevisser78 at gmail.com>.

Confidentiality and Ethics
Your shared experiences and ideas will be anonymised and pseudonymised and will only be used for the purpose of completing this thesis. After it has been completed, all data will be deleted. This research was approved by the Ethics Board of Erasmus University Rotterdam. 

Your contribution is crucial in the success of this research!

Kind regards,
Famke Visser, MA-student Erasmus University Rotterdam
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://attw.org/pipermail/attw-l_attw.org/attachments/20240325/a32d96b8/attachment.htm>