Compared to URLanizations , civil URLanizations (CSOs) often operate in elevated-risk contexts, and attacks against them carry much greater ramifications, including threatsto freedom of expression, liberty, and life. We aim to capture the factors that affect the attitudes and intentions of CSO employees to engage in security and privacy behaviors by using a survey-based study to collect data about employees working at US-based civil society groups. In this paper, we describe the steps that we take to minimize risks to the respondents, such as employing a privacy-centric surveydesign, anonymity-preserving incentive strategies, and recruitment that does not reveal any identities . We hope that our experiences will inform and assist researchers and practitioners working on protective technologies for vulnerable populations .
Compared URLanizations in other sectors , civil URLanizations (CSOs) are particularly vulnerable to security and privacy threats, as they lack adequate resources and expertise to defend themselves. At the same time, their security needs and practices have not gained much attention among researchers, and existing solutions designed for the average users do not consider the contexts in which CSO employees operate. As part of our preliminary work, we conducted an anonymous online survey with 102 CSO employees to collect information about their perceived risks of different security and privacy threats, and their self-reported mitigation strategies. The design of our preliminary survey accounted for the unique requirements of our target population by establishing trust with respondents, using anonymity-preserving incentive strategies, and distributing the survey with the help of a trusted intermediary. However, by carefully examining our methods and the feedback received from respondents, we uncovered several issues with our methodology, including the length of the survey, the framing of the questions, and the design of the recruitment email . We hope that the discussion presented in this paper will inform and assist researchers and practitioners working on understanding and improving the security and privacy of CSOs .
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often operate in elevated-risk contexts, and attacks against them carry much greater ramifications, including threatsto freedom of expression, liberty, and life. We aim to capture the factors that affect the attitudes and intentions of
are particularly vulnerable to security and privacy threats, as they lack adequate resources and expertise to defend themselves. At the same time, their security needs and practices have not gained much attention among researchers, and existing solutions designed for the average users do not consider the contexts in which CSO employees operate. As part of our preliminary work, we conducted an anonymous online survey with 102
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collect information about their perceived risks of different
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behaviors by using a survey-based study to collect data about employees working at US-based civil society groups. In this paper, we describe the steps that we take to minimize risks to the respondents, such as employing a privacy-centric surveydesign,
threats, and their self-reported mitigation strategies. The design of our preliminary survey accounted for the unique requirements of our target population by establishing trust with respondents, using
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incentive strategies, and recruitment that does not reveal any identities
incentive strategies, and distributing the survey with the help of a trusted intermediary. However, by carefully examining our methods and the feedback received from respondents, we uncovered several issues with our methodology, including the length of the survey, the framing of the questions, and the design of the recruitment email
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our experiences
the discussion presented in this paper
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protective technologies for vulnerable populations
understanding and improving the security and privacy of CSOs