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Daniel Zappala

@zappala

human-centered security research at BYU

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15.08.2023
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Latest posts by Daniel Zappala @zappala

When are we going to make location data private and take it off the market as a commodity?

03.03.2026 14:51 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

And we have a direct counter-example in Republicans embracing MAGA extremists, sweeping into power, and then putting those loyalists in charge of everything.

27.02.2026 19:24 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Lily, a Devon Rex with particularly fluffy grey and white hair, relaxes on a bed. One ear is flipped inside out.

Lily, a Devon Rex with particularly fluffy grey and white hair, relaxes on a bed. One ear is flipped inside out.

This is Lily, caught in an embarrassing moment

17.02.2026 16:34 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

What significant advantages do you see in going paperless, versus just using notebooks?

16.02.2026 17:46 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Friends, 

Safeguarding our shared reality continues to be a bleak financial proposition. While I’m working harder than ever to document this administration’s assault on free expression, it’s not bringing in much income, thanks to the chilling effect Trump 2.0 has had on the institutions that once invested in my field. The relentless enemies of truth, however, are profiting from their lies, and challenges to my family’s privacy and safety persist. 

My stalker continues to make frivolous legal filings; now, he is retaliating against me for obtaining a protective order against him in 2023. This has led to yet another large legal bill, bringing the total of my legal expenses since 2022 above $100,000.

Friends, Safeguarding our shared reality continues to be a bleak financial proposition. While I’m working harder than ever to document this administration’s assault on free expression, it’s not bringing in much income, thanks to the chilling effect Trump 2.0 has had on the institutions that once invested in my field. The relentless enemies of truth, however, are profiting from their lies, and challenges to my family’s privacy and safety persist. My stalker continues to make frivolous legal filings; now, he is retaliating against me for obtaining a protective order against him in 2023. This has led to yet another large legal bill, bringing the total of my legal expenses since 2022 above $100,000.

I know times are tough right nowβ€”believe me, I feel it too. This community is the reason I was able to pay my bills after I was villainized for choosing to serve my country. If you can spare a few dollars to help me pay this latest bill, I would be really grateful. Your support means so much. 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/nina-jankowicz-legal-fund

With sincere thanks, 

Nina

I know times are tough right nowβ€”believe me, I feel it too. This community is the reason I was able to pay my bills after I was villainized for choosing to serve my country. If you can spare a few dollars to help me pay this latest bill, I would be really grateful. Your support means so much. https://www.gofundme.com/f/nina-jankowicz-legal-fund With sincere thanks, Nina

I know everyone has a lot bigger problems on their minds, but four years after I took a government job in my area of expertise, I continue to face astronomical legal bills because people lied about me.

If you can help at all, I'd appreciate it. Thanks πŸ’™

www.gofundme.com/f/nina-janko...

16.02.2026 16:48 πŸ‘ 75 πŸ” 34 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 3

SOUPS is a wonderful, welcoming community for human-centered security and privacy work. Please submit and please join us in Hannover, Germany this summer.

12.02.2026 15:40 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

How nice! If you ever want me to zoom in for a class, happy to do it

09.02.2026 18:51 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Congrats! Seattle deserves a great win. I’m a Rams fan, so it feels like we just barely missed out. But hats off to the Seahawks

09.02.2026 13:53 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

This clearly warrants being fired for cause. I have zero tolerance for this.

05.02.2026 16:20 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Can you help me understand your use of technofascism here? I’m familiar with labor and ethics issues, but I would like to understand your thoughts on how it relates to fascism, especially given our current administration.

02.02.2026 22:38 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

That doesn’t look like qualitative analysis. Two of those are measurements of time spent using manual annotation. The other two are questionable.

31.01.2026 01:06 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Hey congrats!!

16.01.2026 17:37 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Delete request and opt-out platform (DROP) Protect your personal information. Data brokers collect, share, and sell your personal information. You can stop that from happening.

Those in California can now go here to request that data brokers delete their data: privacy.ca.gov/drop/

This is a good thing, however, it’s far from a complete solution. 🧡

1/

03.01.2026 15:51 πŸ‘ 17 πŸ” 12 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 2

Very disappointing loss for my team 😒

19.12.2025 04:57 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Screenshot of a paper entry:
Fictional Failures and Real-World Lessons: Ethical Speculation Through Design Fiction on Emotional Support Conversational AI
Authors: Faye Kollig, Jessica Pater, Fayika Farhat Nova, Casey Fiesler
(There are tabs with "abstract" and "summary" and "summary" is selected.)

Screenshot of a paper entry: Fictional Failures and Real-World Lessons: Ethical Speculation Through Design Fiction on Emotional Support Conversational AI Authors: Faye Kollig, Jessica Pater, Fayika Farhat Nova, Casey Fiesler (There are tabs with "abstract" and "summary" and "summary" is selected.)

The ACM Digital Library, where a LOT of computing-related research is published (I'd say at least 75% of my own publications), is now not only providing (without consent of the authors and without opt-in by readers) AI-generated summaries of papers, but they appear as the *default* over abstracts.

16.12.2025 23:31 πŸ‘ 646 πŸ” 335 πŸ’¬ 30 πŸ“Œ 90

I was struck by how white nationalism is woven throughout this document. It is the motivating ideology behind the strategy’s antipathy toward Europe and the desire to assert dominance in our hemisphere.

06.12.2025 14:51 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I also wonder if there is a realistic way for them to document a research process so we can see that their own work led directly to the written words, though this seems onerous.

03.12.2025 18:04 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I’m pondering a requirement that when they turn in a report, they also turn in a handwritten paragraph that copies out verbatim the AI policy for the class, with a signature attesting they followed it.

03.12.2025 18:03 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I am sad that the tech industry took no thought or care for the havoc they would wreak before unleashing this tool, nor taken any steps to curb academic misconduct.

03.12.2025 18:00 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Very considerate!

27.11.2025 16:18 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I’m curious what you do with a turkey done that early?

27.11.2025 15:13 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

πŸš€πŸ’« I’m on the job market for academic (tenure-track) and industry research positions!

πŸ‘‹I am a Postdoc Fellow at @hcii.cmu.edu working at the intersection of human-AI interaction, cognitive science, responsible AI, design, and social computing. I earned my PhD from @gtresearch.bsky.social in 2024.

11.11.2025 23:13 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Started a thread in the other place and bringing it over here - I really think we should be more vocal about the opportunities that lay at the intersection of these two options!

So I'm starting a live thread of new roles as I become aware of them - feel free to add / extend / share :

29.10.2025 02:25 πŸ‘ 107 πŸ” 31 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 3

Love to see this. I set up a recurring monthly donation to my food bank.

26.10.2025 23:26 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Coded with an LLM

(this works for both systems and qualitative researchers)

13.10.2025 03:58 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A grove of aspen trees that are turning orange and red during fall

A grove of aspen trees that are turning orange and red during fall

I was up there this summer and it was gorgeous. Utah is pretty good right now too.

08.10.2025 17:27 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Curious how you secure your e-bike while running errands

06.10.2025 04:48 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Characterizing and Detecting Propaganda-Spreading Accounts on Telegram | USENIX

This paper measured propaganda accounts and was at USENIX Security. Much more of a quantitative approach. But I get πŸ’• for a good qualitative paper.

www.usenix.org/conference/u...

10.09.2025 01:34 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

You see significant overlap and PCs in human-centered security among the above and SOUPS. For CHI, the security and privacy subcommittee in particular.

Since it’s participatory maybe CSCW but I’m less familiar with it.

09.09.2025 23:59 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

You could make an argument that propaganda campaigns fit under the security umbrella. And USENIX Security has a good set of reviewers that understand and accept qualitative work. Same with IEEE S&P. CCS is a work in progress.

Alternatively maybe CHI, but the registration deadline just passed.

09.09.2025 23:57 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0