Hello there! Thanks for thinking I'm interesting enough to check up on. If you've come this far, I encourage you to say hello before you leave :)

My name is Yixin Zou (pronounced "Yee-Shin Zoh"). I am a tenure-track faculty member at the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy in Bochum, Germany, where I lead the Human-Centered Security and Privacy group. I am also a principal investigator at the CASA Cluster of Excellence at Ruhr University Bochum (RUB). My CV is available here.

I study questions at the intersection of human-computer interaction and usable privacy & security. My group's current research centers around empowering end users to have more literacy and agency over their personal data when interacting with socio-technical systems, with a particular focus on marginalized and underserved populations.

Want a brief highlight of my work? Check out this podcast I did with Cube 5 titled "On the Way to More Digital Security and Privacy for All" as well as this video I did with CASA that featured my day-to-day life.

Before joining MPI-SP, I earned my Ph.D. in Information at the University of Michigan, advised by Florian Schaub. My PhD dissertation was recognized by an ACM SIGCHI Outstanding Dissertation Award.

If you are interested in joining our group, or if you are seeking any form of advising or collaboration, please read this page first before reaching out to me.