Professor and Vice Chair
Department of Computer Science
Director of Center for Data, Ethics, and Society
Dr. Michael Zimmer is the Director of Marquette's Center for Data, Ethics, and Society, an interdisciplinary center focused on confronting contemporary data ethics issues such as the controversies and consequences of our increasingly data-driven lives and spaces, unfair algorithmic biases, the unequal effects of computational decision-making, the privacy threats of ubiquitous surveillance systems, and the role for corporate social responsibility and accountability.
Background
is a privacy and data ethics scholar whose work focuses on digital privacy & surveillance, the ethics of big data, internet research ethics, and the broader social & ethical dimensions of emerging digital technologies.
With a background in communication & Internet studies, science & technology studies, and information policy & ethics, Zimmer uses mixed methods to help reveal the social and ethical dimensions of our contemporary digital ecosystem. Recent projects have focused on both quantitative and qualitative investigations into the privacy and ethical dimensions of big data and computational social science research, wearable fitness trackers, smart home technologies, the application of artificial intelligence in various healthcare settings, and surveillance practices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Courses Taught
- CORE 1929: Methods of Inquiry: Communicating with Data
- COSC 1820: Data, Ethics, and Society
- COSC 3820: Professional Ethics in Computer & Data Science
- COSC 4820/5820: Social and Ethical Implications of Data
- COSC 6820: Data Ethics
- COSC 6960: Seminar in Computer Science: Critical Algorithm Studies
Research Interests
- Privacy
- Data ethics
- Internet research ethics
- Social & ethical computing
Professional Affiliations
- Association of Internet Researchers () 鈥� Co-Chair of
- Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction () 鈥� Member of
- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Society on Social Implications of Technology ()
Publications
- Park, S., He, W., Deldari, E., Emami-Naeini, P., Huang, D.Y., Vitak, J., Yao, Y. and Zimmer, M. (2024). . In Twentieth Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS 2024) (pp. 179-198)
- Kumar, P. C., Zimmer, M., & Vitak, J. (2024). . Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 8(CSCW)
- Fiesler, C., Zimmer, M., Proferes, N., Gilbert, S., & Jones, N. (2024). . Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 8(GROUP), 1-33.
- Lenhart, A., Park, S., Zimmer, M., & Vitak, J. (2023). . Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 7(CSCW2), 1鈥�34.
- Park, S., Lenhart, A., Zimmer, M., & Vitak, J. (2023). . Nineteenth Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS 2023), 543鈥�558.
- Vitak, J., Kumar, P., Liao, Y., & Zimmer, M. (2023). . Human-Machine Communication, 6, 183鈥�201.
- Vitak, J., & Zimmer, M. (2023). . Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 28(4).
- Ajmani, L. H., Chancellor, S., Mehta, B., Fiesler, C., Zimmer, M., & De Choudhury, M. (2023). . 2023 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency, 1311鈥�1323.
- Vitak, J., & Zimmer, M. (2023). . Surveillance & Society, 21(1), 29鈥�44.
- Vitak, J., Liao, Y., Mols, A., Trottier, D., Zimmer, M., Kumar, P., & Pridmore, J. (2023). . International Journal of Communication, 17, 471-498.
- Pater, J., Fiesler, C., & Zimmer, M. (2022). . Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 6(GROUP), 1-13.
- Zimmer, M. and Logan, S. (2021), , Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society.
- Shilton, K., Moss, E., Gilbert, S. A., Bietz, M. J., Fiesler, C., Metcalf, J., Vitak, J., & Zimmer, M. (2021). . Big Data & Society
- Proferes, N., Jones, N., Gilbert, S., Fiesler, C., & Zimmer, M. (2021). . Social Media + Society.
- Reuter, K., Deodhar, A., Makri, S., Zimmer, M., Berenbaum, F., Nikiphorou, xE. (2021). . Rheumatology.
- Hargittai, E., Redmiles, E. M., Vitak, J., & Zimmer, M. (2020). Americans鈥� willingness to adopt a COVID-19 tracking app. First Monday, 25(11).
- Vitak, J., & Zimmer, M. (2020). . Social Media + Society.
- Wu, P., Vitak, J., & Zimmer, M. (2020). . Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology. 71(4). 485-490.
- Zimmer, M., Kumar, P., Vitak, J., Liao, Y., & Chamberlain Kritikos, K. (2020). . Information, Communication & Society, 23(7), 1020-1037.
- Reuter ,K., Zhu, Y., Angyan, P., Le, N., Merchant, A., Zimmer, M. (2019). Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(10).
- Chu, K. H., Colditz, J., Sidani, J., Zimmer, M., & Primack, B. (2019). . Social Networks.
- Liao, Y., Vitak, J., Kumar, P., Zimmer, M., & Kritikos, K. (2019). . In Proceedings of the 14th Annual iConference, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (iConference) (pp. 102-113).
- Zimmer, M. (2018). . Social Media + Society, 4(2).
- Zimmer, M. & Kinder-Kurlanda, K. (Eds.). (2017). . New York: Peter Lang
Grants
- "Developing Educational Resources for the Ethical Use of Pervasive Data" National Science Foundation (NSF) ER2: Collaborative Research Grant. Co-Principal Investigator: $78,418 ($400,000 total project funding). 2024-2027
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"Ethics Education and Preparedness for AI Researchers: A Benchmarking Study." Notre Dame-IBM Technology Ethics Lab. Principal Investigator: $4,625. 2023-2024
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"Supporting Privacy Negotiation Among Multiple Stakeholders in Smart Environments." National Science Foundation (NSF) SaTC SMALL: Collaborative Research Grant. Co-Principal Investigator: $145,615 ($599,978 total project funding). 2023-2025
- 鈥淗ow COVID-19 is Changing Workplace Surveillance: American Workers鈥� Experiences & Privacy Expectations When Working from Home鈥� Social Science Research Council (SSRC) Rapid-Response Grants on Covid-19 and the Social Sciences. Co-Principal Investigator: $5,000. 2020-2021
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"PERVADE: Pervasive Data Ethics for Computational Research". National Science Foundation (NSF) CHS: LARGE: Collaborative Research grant. Co-Principal Investigator: $373,957 ($3 million total project funding). 2017-2021
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鈥淢apping Privacy and Surveillance Dynamics in Emerging Mobile Ecosystems: Practices and Contexts in the Netherlands and US.鈥� National Science Foundation (NSF) EAGER (EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research) grant. Co-Principal Investigator: $100,685 ($262,000 total project funding). 2016-2019
Editorial Boards
鈥� ACM Journal for Responsible Computing
鈥� IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society
鈥� Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication
鈥� Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society
鈥� Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media
鈥� Journal of Sociotechnical Critique
Dr. Michael Zimmer糖心传媒
