About Me
"Kyi" can be pronounced like "Key". I wrote about why I prefer it pronounced this way here.
Hi! My name is Lin, and I am a PhD candidate at the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy (MPI-SP). This autumn, I am a visiting research student at the University of Oxford's Human-Centred Computing group. I am also part of the European Data Protection Board's (EDPB) expert advisory pool, lending technical expertise relating to the regulation of new technologies and information security.
I am broadly interested in user-centred online consent. Combining my background in HCI, psychology, and privacy, I take a user-centred approach to understand how we can revamp the messy online consent system. I have presented our work to the French Data Protection Authority and have engaged with data protection stakeholders, such as NOYB.
My CV can be found here: PDF (updated November 30, 2023)
Education
PhD in Computer Science at the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy (Bochum, Germany)
Supervisor: Asia Biega
September 2021 - Present
MA in Human-Computer Interaction at Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada)
I was fortunate to be supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
Thesis: “End User Mental Models of Social Engineering Attacks” [PDF]
2019 - 2021
BA (Honours) in Psychology at Queen’s University (Kingston, Canada)
2015 - 2019
Relevant Work Experience
Fall 2023: Visiting Research Student, University of Oxford (hosted by Jun Zhao within the Human-Centred Computing Group)
2023 - Present: Member of the Support Pool of Experts, European Data Protection Board
May - August 2020: UX Research Intern, Government of Canada
Service
Reviewer, CHI 2024
2023 - Present: PhD Representative for MPI-SP, Max Planck Society (PhDNet)
2022 - Present: Organizer, Spark(l)ing Science (a student-run bi-weekly series of research lectures and discussions within MPI-SP)
Personal
Due to my unexpected (and very exciting!) journey into computer science research, I want to expand our ideas of what “computer science” is to encourage more diversity in this field. Stereotypes about computer science and computer scientists can deter many women and underrepresented groups from pursuing a career in this discipline [read more].
Stumbling upon this wonderful career path after taking a course on design in undergrad has led me to realize how broad computer science is. Just look at the interesting and interdisciplinary work being published at top computer science venues such as CHI, CSCW, FAccT, etc. to understand how this discipline can be used to improve and understand human life and society.
If you are from the social sciences and interested in pivoting to computer science, please feel free to reach out to me and I’d be happy to chat.