Nurcan Tüfekci

From 01/05/2024 to 31/10/2024

Open Ideas

Virtual Privacy

University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), Department of Information Systems/SONG Lab

Ph.D. Candidate Tufekci is currently at the Song Lab for Information Systems at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Her educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in Family and Consumer Sciences, a master’s degree in Women’s Studies, and a master’s in Family and Consumer Sciences. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the Department of Sociology at Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University in Turkey. Her research interests include migration, refugees/ asylum seekers, women, families, the virtual world, and its impact on society. She has field experience with migrants.  Self-motivated, creative, and analytical thinker, sensitive to cultural differences, open to implementing new ideas and conducting interdisciplinary collaborative research.

Since societies drive technology, they have the capacity to shape the virtual public sphere. To understand this pattern, we need to examine the structural characteristics of societies and the way they experience the virtual world. The development of the next generation of the Internet is not independent of society. Different social groups will have many different interpretations of the virtual public sphere, and the next generation of the Internet will evolve accordingly. The project focuses on discussing privacy in virtual space and the effects of technology and society on each other. The project aims to explore the impact of technology and society on each other through the privacy experiences of immigrant Turkish communities. In the project, the virtual privacy experiences of the Turkish community in America are discussed in the context of its contribution to the new generation of internet design. Since the structure of Turkish society is blended with the structure of both Middle Eastern and Western society, it is envisaged that the results will contribute to the next generation of internet design that will be accepted in a wide area of geography. Since limited studies are addressing the privacy experience of Turkish immigrants in the virtual world and there is a lack of studies addressing the issue of privacy among Turkish immigrants living in the United States, it is considered that the project will be a unique study in terms of its subject, context, and model. With the solution to the privacy problem in the virtual world, access to a large number of users will be provided, which will benefit both society and technology companies (Meta ‘Facebook,’ X ‘Twitter,’ Apple, Google, etc.).

With the scientific verification of the data obtained, the impact of societies and technology on each other will be revealed by determining the privacy experiences of users in the virtual world.  As stated in the project objectives, the data obtained will be scientifically validated, a policy statement will be prepared, an article will be published, and a paper will be presented at the academic conference.

• Sound Scientific Validation – in progress
• Advancing standards – in progress
• Strengthening research collaboration with the US – in progress
• Building solid connections and partnerships in Europe and in the US – in progress
• Reinforced integration of social sciences and humanities in the project – in progress
• Expanding collaboration within the NGI community
• Paper submission for publication – jointly with the host organization
• Conference attendance with paper/poster/ proceedings – jointly with the host organization
• Career advancement