This course will focus on how human factors, such as human behavior, goals, and needs, both shape
and are shaped by, the security and privacy of digital systems. For instance, how human behavior
can lead to insecure systems and how digital systems can threaten users’ safety. We will explore
various topics in usable security and privacy and digital safety such as authentication, mental
models of encryption, scams, online hate and harassment, and technology-facilitated interpersonal
abuse. We will learn and apply human-centered and empirical research methods in the context of
these topics, and discuss best practices of human-centered and empirical research in computer security.