About

Hi! My name is Lin. I am a PhD student at the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy (MPI-SP) where I am supervised by Asia Biega in the Responsible Computing Group.

My research investigates how consent and data collection can be more responsible, human-centred, and keep up with advances in technology. I study this in two ways:
1) improving and learning from pre-existing consent and data collection systems (e.g., GDPR) (see my previous works [1], [2], [3]), and
2) envisioning more responsible ways of collecting data in present and future AI systems where traditional forms of consent may not work (I'm excited to soon share the projects I'm working on!). 

I collaborate with researchers across computer science, tech policy, and law for broader societal and regulatory impact. I have presented my work, and have engaged with privacy and AI ethics stakeholders across Europe and North America such as the Future of Privacy Forum, French Data Protection Authority, and NOYB. My work has also won the Council of Europe's 2024 Rodotà Award for an original and innovative contribution to data protection, and has been featured in an AI Ethics Brief from the Montreal Institute of AI Ethics.

My CV can be found here (last updated Oct. 2024)

I am looking for 2 Computer Science and IT Security MSc students to work on some projects with! Please take a look at the MSc thesis topics offered here, and contact me if these sound interesting to you. 

Education

PhD in Computer Science at the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy (Bochum, Germany)
Supervisor: Asia Biega
Research Interests: Consent, responsible data collection, tech policy
September 2021 - Present

MA in Human-Computer Interaction at Carleton University (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)
I was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) during my studies.
Supervisor: Elizabeth Stobert
Thesis: “End User Mental Models of Social Engineering Attacks” [PDF]
2019 - 2021

BA (Honours) in Psychology at Queen’s University (Kingston, Ontario, Canada)
2015 - 2019