Priya Kumar recognized for work on how digital technologies affect privacy

Indian American information science and technology researcher honored with Penn State College’s PNC Career Development Professorship

By Arun Kumar

Priya Kumar, an Indian American assistant professor in the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST), has been awarded the college’s PNC Technologies Career Development Professorship.

The endowed position helps to attract and retain outstanding faculty who can make significant contributions to the college, Penn State and the world through their research and interactions with students, according to a media release.

“I’m deeply honored to be selected as the PNC Technologies Career Development Professor,” Kumar said. “The College of IST has been such a vibrant place to launch my career as a scholar and educator, and I’m grateful that this award will help keep that momentum going.”

The three-year appointment, effective July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2027, recognizes faculty members who are early in their careers with discretionary funding that can be used to support research, instruction, educational activities and associated travel. Kumar said she plans to use the funds to expand her research on children’s privacy education.

Kumar joined the College of IST in 2021. Her research examines how we as a society think, talk, study and learn about data privacy, especially in relation to children. The aim of her research is to shift digital technology discourse, design and literacy efforts away from a focus on individual control and toward more networked understandings of privacy and agency.

Her research appears in publications across the fields of information, communication and human-computer interaction and has been featured in national media outlets that include The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, Wired and Buzzfeed. In January, she joined the Center for Democracy & Technology as a non-resident fellow.

“The PNC Career Development Professorship is a testament to Priya’s capabilities as a researcher and leader in the field,” said Andrea Tapia, dean of the College of IST. “I am happy to see her recognized with this honor and look forward to her continued research in data privacy. She truly is making an impact.”

Kumar holds a doctoral degree in information studies from the University of Maryland’s College of Information Studies. Her dissertation examined the privacy implications of parents posting pictures of their children on social media, also known as sharenting.

She earned a master’s degree in information with a self-designed concentration in data storytelling from the University of Michigan School of Information and bachelor’s degrees in government and politics and in journalism from the University of Maryland.