The Usable Security and Privacy course introduces students to the area of usable security and privacy, the principles of usability for security and privacy IT systems, the role of human factors and their impact on the design of usable privacy and security systems. It showcases most common usability and user interface problems in the context of privacy and security and teaches them how to design and conduct user studies for evaluating the usability of different privacy and security systems. En studerende, der fuldt ud har opfyldt kursets mål, vil kunne:

• Explain the importance and principles of usability in digital security and privacy.
• Critically review and compare the strengths and limitations of different usable security and privacy solutions.
• Define and apply basic concepts and methods of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Human-Centred Design (HCD) in the area of privacy and security.
• Analyse usability, privacy or security problems in a given system, and indicate design improvements to address discrepancies.
• Build the skills necessary to design and carry out user studies to evaluate the usability, security, and privacy of digital systems.
• Communicate practical usability work and give an account of results both in writing and orally.
• Discuss the scientific literature on usable privacy and security.
• Reflect on ethical aspects of privacy and security, focusing on vulnerability issues of the society.

The course integrates discussion on state-of-the-art research in selected topics related to usable security and privacy, for instance usable authentication, usable encryption, usability of configurations of technology for privacy and security controls (access control, firewalls), usable PETs (Privacy-enhancing tools) and TETs (Transparency-enhancing tools), cybersecurity awareness and training, user-centered privacy and security by design and by default and HCI patterns. 02. maj, 2025