Columbia Privacy Lab - Incite at Columbia University

Completed Project

Columbia Privacy Lab

  • Team
    • Kimberly Springer Principal Investigator
    • Nkima Stephenson Fellow
    • Elizabeth Li Fellow
  • Funding Board of Trustees of the American Assembly
  • Timeframe 2021–2023

The Columbia Privacy Lab was an initaitve designed to conduct research, providing instruction, and develop privacy-minded tools for the university and surrounding community.

Lab fellow Nkima Stephenson researched and developed action items related to a project examining the kinds of data New York City requires to apply for housing and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Research questions included:

  1. What questions are asked when one applies for sustenance benefits in NYC?
  2. Why are these particular questions asked?
  3. Who determines the necessity of the questions? Which questions are necessary for providing food stamps?
  4. How is this information used?
  5. What value does this information have to the State?

A second research project completed by Elizabeth Li examined data leakage via dating app users in the name of safety and security.

Related Works

  • open website

    Elizabeth Li, "Screenshot, share, and save: An exploration into dating app profile-sharing behaviors", Medium, September 7, 2023

  • open website

    Nkima Stephenson, Kimberly Springer, "Columbia Privacy Lab & Public Assistance Benefits", Columbia Academic Commons, February 23, 2023

More Projects

  • go to Refugee Cities
    Refugee Cities
    Bringing urban studies and refugee studies scholars together to examine how refugees settle and live in urban spaces.
  • go to Centering Indigenous Health Equity
    Centering Indigenous Health Equity
    Hosting Indigenous-led conversations about health equity and access across the Philippines. Part of the Global Change Program
  • go to Field Notes from a Preservation Station
    Field Notes from a Preservation Station
    Field Notes from a Preservation Station is a Chicago-based initiative that treats food preservation as a public health imperative. This project addresses two interconnected challenges: the loss of traditional food knowledge and ongoing food insecurity. Part of Assembling Voices
  • go to Arts and Activism in the Americas
    Arts and Activism in the Americas
    Examining how arts and activism respond to political repression in the Americas.