datadaddy.CCPA

Code can be found at the link below.

What did I do?

For the CMU course “Engineering Privacy in Software,” I am developing a browser extension that assists California residents in exercising their CCPA and CPRA rights. I have built the GUI, backend logic, and set the codebase up with WebPack and React. I designed the GUI using React and the MUI React library. This project is a work in progress for a Spring 2022 class project. I am in the process of interfacing with global privacy vendor OneTrust’s API to streamline this process.

What did I learn?

React, JavaScript, Manifest v3, WebPack, MUI, JS-Soup, Node HTML Parser.

Santorini: Web Application Board Game

I built a web application game for “Principles of Software Construction” homework 5. I coded the backend and frontend using Java, Typescript, React, HTML, CSS, Handlebars, and NanoHTTPD. Furthermore, I implemented the Strategy Pattern design to allow for extensibility with additional GodCards, entirely decoupling the backend (Java) from the frontend (React, TypeScript) to increase the cohesion of the software. Below are pictures of my final web application. Code is available upon request.

Google FLoC: Design Proposal Project

Differential Privacy, Writing Examples, and Research

What did we do?

For CMU course 17-631, my team and I researched Google FLoC and the Privacy Sandbox. We spent the semester learning about its algorithms, where it fails, where it succeeds, public response, and competitor alternatives. A link to our final paper is included below.

What did we learn?

We investigate the Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), Google’s current keystone for its plan to replace third-party cookies. Our investigations included in-depth literature reviews as well as conversations with experts on privacy economics, cryptography, and web-tracking. We deliver a discussion on the ongoing debate surrounding FLoC from its announcement to its current trial phases. We ultimately find several faults with FLoC and view it as unsustainable in its current form. Finally, we propose a design for improving FLoC’s privacy guarantees while still providing good advertiser utility.

COVID-19 International Privacy Survey

Writing Examples, Research, and Administrative Hurdles

What did we do?

For CMU course 17-633, my team and I conducted an international privacy survey across the USA, India, China, and Africa. We measured privacy attitudes across various COVID-19 related topics over a 5 point Likert scale. A link to our final paper is included at the link below.

What did we learn?

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced new forms of data, regulation, and public health policy in a remarkably short period of time. Our work finds that individuals across the United States, Africa, China, and India are more willing to surrender private information in exchange for access to public activities. Furthermore, our results demonstrate findings that reveal the sociopolitical divide within the United States generated by the polarization of the COVID-19 pandemic. With an overwhelming majority of respondents in favor of a vaccine mandate from their government or employer as well as agreeing to disclose their vaccination status to engage in social activity, it is clear that those surveyed are willing to take measures that allow them to safely engage in socialization. We assert that the underlying need for connection and social activity within human behavior should be a critical consideration that informs policy decisions related to COVID-19. It is the responsibility of public health officials to protect those that they serve. In order to do so effectively, policy must be adopted in ways that cater both to safety and base human needs.