I am a PhD candidate in Computer Science in the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) at the University of California, Irvine. I am advised by Athina Markopoulou and Scott Jordan, and I am a member of the NSF SaTC Frontier ProperData Center and ProperAI: An Engineering+Society Institute on AI.
My research focuses on privacy, technology policy, and human-centered computing. I am particularly interested in privacy for vulnerable users, such as children and teens, across emerging technologies.
Previously, I obtained my BS in Computer Science and Engineering from Santa Clara University and my MS in Computer Science from the University of California, Irvine. I also served as President of the Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) student chapter at UCI from 2023 to 2025.
For more information, please see my CV.
Completed DTEI Graduate Scholars Fellowship
Sept. 2025
I was selected for the Division of Teaching Excellence & Innovation's (DTEI) Summer Graduate Scholars Fellowship Program. As the deliverable for this fellowship, I developed a GenAI Guide for CS Educators to assist UCI instructors, including guidance on GenAI for course development and assessment as well as on academic integrity and AI literacy. I also completed advanced pedagogical training from DTEI.
UCI ICS Steckler Family Endowed Fellowship Recipient
July 2025
I was selected to receive the ICS Steckler Family Endowed Fellowship for 2025-2026! The focus of this fellowship is to support PhD students in UCI ICS whose research, teaching, and/or outreach and professional service activities reflect their commitment to promote computing to women.
Presented to Comcast Security and Privacy Research Group
June 2025
I was invited to present a talk about my children's privacy research to the Comcast Security and Privacy Research group. Thank you for inviting me to speak to this group!
Privacy and Safety of AI Chatbots for Children
Olivia Figueira, Pranathi Chamarthi, Tu Le, and Athina Markopoulou
In Preparation
When Kids Mode Isn't For Kids: Investigating TikTok's "Under 13 Experience"
Olivia Figueira, Pranathi Chamarthi, Tu Le, and Athina Markopoulou
Under Review
Preprint
VR ProfiLens: Exploration of User Profiling in Real-World Virtual Reality Apps
Ismat Jarin, Olivia Figueira, Yu Duan, Tu Le, and Athina Markopoulou
Under Review
VBIT: Towards Enhancing Privacy Control Over IoT Devices
Jad Al Aaraj, Olivia Figueira, Tu Le, Isabela Figueira, Rahmadi Trimananda, and Athina Markopoulou
Under Review
Preprint
The Hypocrisy of Data Governance
Zubair Shafiq, Olivia Figueira, Athina Markopoulou, Woodrow Hartzog, and Michael Lavine
Presented at the Symposium on "Governing Data", Yale Law School, March 2024
Journal paper to appear in the Yale Journal of Law and Technology (YJoLT), 2025
Symposium
DiffAudit: Auditing Privacy Practices of Online Services for Children and Adolescents
Olivia Figueira, Rahmadi Trimananda, Athina Markopoulou, and Scott Jordan
In Proc. of the ACM Internet Measurement Conference (IMC) 2024
Best Student Paper Award at IMC 2024
Presented at PrivaCI Symposium 2024
Paper
Artifacts
News
DeepPhish: Understanding User Trust Towards Artificially Generated Profiles in Online Social Networks
Jaron Mink, Licheng Luo, Natã M. Barbosa, Olivia Figueira, Yang Wang, and Gang Wang
In Proc. of the 31st USENIX Security Symposium (USENIX Security 2022)
Paper
Summary
Understanding COVID-19 Public Sentiment Towards Public Health Policies Using Social Media Data
Olivia Figueira, Yuka Hatori, Liying Liang, Christine Chye, and Yuhong Liu
In Proc. of the IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC) 2021
Paper
Distress Among Undergraduates: Marginality, Stressors and Resilience Resources
Paula S. Nurius, Yasaman S. Sefidgar, Kevin S. Kuehn, Jake Jung, Han Zhang, Olivia Figueira, Eve A. Riskin, Anind K. Dey, and Jennifer C. Mankoff
In the Journal of American College Health 2021
Paper
Privacy of Virtual Reality: Our Future in the Metaverse and Beyond
Authors: Girard Kelly, Jeff Graham, Jill Bronfman, and Steve Garton
Contributors: Olivia Figueira and Aya Nouiouat
Common Sense Media, Privacy Program, 2022
Paper
Summary