Undergraduate research
We have been lucky to have many opportunities to involve undergraduate students in practical research. Over the years, they have contributed to the research mission of this lab: making technology safer, reliable, and trustworthy for end users. In many cases, this was their first hands-on experience in research, and we are proud to say that, as part of our lab, many have published (and continue to publish) research papers at top-tier security and privacy venues (see publication page). Moreover, this research experience encouraged them to pursue graduate studies.
As part of an NSF-funded project, we are developing a set of privacy plugins for CODAP, where anyone can visually explore and learn privacy mechanisms, including k-anonymity and Differential Privacy.
Step-by-Step Guide
- Open a browser window.
- Navigate to: https://codap.concord.org/app/
- Then choose: “CREATE NEW DOCUMENT”
- You will see the default CODAP environment.
Step 2: Load the Privacy Plugin
- In the CODAP interface, click the ☰ (hamburger menu) located in the top-left corner of the screen.
- From the dropdown menu, select “Import.”
- In the pop-up window that appears, choose the “URL” tab.
- Enter the following URL into the input field: https://nwdan.net/assets/static/CODAP/PrivacyRules/privacy.html
- Click the “Import” button to load the Privacy Plugin into your CODAP session.
Step 3: Apply Privacy Rules
- Once the plugin loads successfully in CODAP, you will see the Privacy Plugin interface appear as a floating panel or sidebar.
- The interface includes modules for the following privacy techniques:
- k-Anonymity
- l-Diversity
- t-Closeness
- Differential Privacy
- Click on any of the modules to begin exploring.
Acknowledgment
A team of amazing students has been working on this tool, see the project page for details.