I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, working with Dr. Madelyn Rose Sanfilippo. In Fall 2026, I will join Rutgers University’s School of Communication and Information (SC&I) as an Assistant Professor.
My research examines usable privacy and security within contextual, time-sensitive sociotechnical systems, focusing on human–organizational dynamics in the design, deployment, and regulatory compliance of emerging technologies. I employ mixed-method approaches to study this domain.
I received my Ph.D. in Information Science at Indiana University Bloomington, advised by Dr. Howard Rosenbaum. While earning my degree, I was a Senior Privacy Analyst (Program Coordinator) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and I also interned as a CSH Graduate Privacy Analyst & Engineer Research Intern at the MITRE Corporation & NIST NCCoE. I hold LL.M. in Intellectual Property and Technology Law from the University of Illinois College of Law, advised by Professor Faye E. Jones and LL.B. (J.D. equivalent) from Baskent University Faculty of Law.
NEW HIGHLIGHTS:
[2/2026] One paper has been accepted to CSCWD!
[12/2025] One paper has been accepted to NDSS USEC 2026! See you in San Diego!
[8/2025] One paper has been accepted to HICSS! See you in Hawaii!
[7/2025] I received USENIX SOUPS travel grant from USENIX! Thanks USENIX!
[6/2025] My short paper "Multiverse Privacy Theory for Contextual Risks in Complex User-AI Interactions" has been accepted to Societal & User-Centered Privacy in AI (SUPA) Workshop at USENIX SOUPS 2025. See you in Seattle!
[6/2025] I will be at USENIX PEPR 2025! See you in Santa Clara!
[5/2025] Our paper "Can I Trust This Chatbot? Assessing User Privacy in AI-Healthcare Chatbot Applications" has been accepted to the 88th Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T)!
[4/2025] I guest lectured I790 Advanced Privacy Law at the University of Illinois College of Law about user privacy dynamics in conversational AI!
[4/2025] I successfully defended my dissertation. I'm formally Dr. Ece Gumusel!
[3/2025] I gave an invited talk at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte College of Computing and Informatics CyberDNA Center!
[3/2025] I gave an invited talk at the University of Cincinnati School of Information Technology!
[1/2025] I co-organized 5th Privacy Everywhere Conference at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and moderated the "The Human Side of AI: Privacy, Ethics, and Equity in Higher Education" session!
[10/2024] I presented our ACM CCS paper "Understanding Legal Professionals' Practices and Expectations in Data Breach Incident Reporting" at Salt Lake City, Utah!
[10/2024] Our paper on LLM use in computing education appears in XRDS: Crossroads, The ACM Magazine for Students!
[10/2024] My paper on "Are chatbots safe? A look at user privacy concerns." is listed on SSRN’s Top Ten download list (60 days) for: Educational Technology, Media & Library Science eJournal!