Postdoctoral Scholar
University of California, Berkeley
olivia dot f at berkeley dot edu
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I am a postdoctoral scholar in the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS) at the University of California, Berkeley, working with Camille Crittenden in the CITRIS Tech Policy initiative.
My research focuses on privacy and safety, technology policy, and human-centered computing. I am particularly interested in studying youth privacy and safety across emerging technologies, such as AI systems.
I received my PhD in Computer Science from the University of California, Irvine, advised by Athina Markopoulou and Scott Jordan. During my PhD, I was a member of the ProperData Center and ProperAI Institute. I also served as President of the Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) student chapter.
Previously, I received my BS in Computer Science and Engineering from Santa Clara University and my MS in Computer Science from the University of California, Irvine.
Dissertation Defense
Apr. 2026
I successfully defended my dissertation, Auditing and Improving Children's Online Privacy and Safety. Thank you to my committee, Profs. Athina Markopoulou, Scott Jordan, and Habiba Farrukh.
VR ProfiLens Paper Accepted to USEC 2026
Dec. 2025
Our paper "VR ProfiLens: User Profiling Risks in Consumer Virtual Reality Apps" was accepted for publication at the Symposium on Usable Security and Privacy (USEC) 2026, co-located with the NDSS Symposium 2026.
Developed GenAI Guide for Computer Science Educators
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.
PromptPET: Privacy-Utility Optimized Prompt Obfuscation
Ke Yang, Olivia Figueira, Umar Iqbal, and Athina Markopoulou
Under Review
Preprint
Actions Speak Louder Than Chats: Investigating AI Chatbot Age Gating
Olivia Figueira, Pranathi Chamarthi, Tu Le, and Athina Markopoulou
Under Review
Preprint
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
VBIT: Towards Enhancing Privacy Control Over IoT Devices
Jad Al Aaraj, Olivia Figueira, Tu Le, Isabela Figueira, Rahmadi Trimananda, and Athina Markopoulou
ACM Transactions on Internet of Things (TIOT), 2026
Paper
VR ProfiLens: User Profiling Risks in Consumer Virtual Reality Apps
Ismat Jarin, Olivia Figueira, Yu Duan, Tu Le, and Athina Markopoulou
In Proc. of the Symposium on Usable Security and Privacy (USEC) 2026
Paper
Artifacts
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
Yale Journal of Law & Technology (YJoLT), Vol. 28, 2026
Paper
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
Extended Abstract in the Symposium on Applications of Contextual Integrity (PrivaCI), 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
Journal of American College Health, Vol. 71, Issue 5, 2021
Paper
GenAI Guide for Computer Science Educators
Olivia Figueira and Athina Markopoulou
UCI DTEI Graduate Scholars Fellowship Program 2025 Teaching Artifact
GenAI Guide
DTEI Program
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 Report, 2022
Report