Developers Need Protection, Too: Perspectives and Research Challenges for Privacy in Social Coding Platforms

Nicolás E.Díaz Ferreyra*, Abdessamad Imine, Melina Vidoni, Riccardo Scandariato

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

    1 Citation (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Social Coding Platforms (SCPs) like GitHub have become central to modern software engineering thanks to their collaborative and version-control features. Like in mainstream Online Social Networks (OSNs) such as Facebook, users of SCPs are subjected to privacy attacks and threats given the high amounts of personal and project-related data available in their profiles and software repositories. However, unlike in OSNs, the privacy concerns and practices of SCP users have not been extensively explored nor documented in the current literature. In this work, we present the preliminary results of an online survey (N=105) addressing developers' concerns and perceptions about privacy threats steaming from SCPs. Our results suggest that, although users express concern about social and organisational privacy threats, they often feel safe sharing personal and project-related information on these platforms. Moreover, attacks targeting the inference of sensitive attributes are considered more likely than those seeking to re-identify source-code contributors. Based on these findings, we propose a set of recommendations for future investigations addressing privacy and identity management in SCPs.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationProceedings - 2023 IEEE/ACM 16th International Conference on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering, CHASE 2023
    PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
    Pages105-110
    Number of pages6
    ISBN (Electronic)9798350337341
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2023
    Event16th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering, CHASE 2023 - Melbourne, Australia
    Duration: 14 May 202315 May 2023

    Publication series

    NameProceedings - 2023 IEEE/ACM 16th International Conference on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering, CHASE 2023

    Conference

    Conference16th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering, CHASE 2023
    Country/TerritoryAustralia
    CityMelbourne
    Period14/05/2315/05/23

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