Citizen Data Passport (CDP): Privacy starts with full visibility of your digital self
Project ID: 2531bd1652
(You will need this ID for your application)
Research Theme: Information and Communication Technologies
Research Area(s):
Information Systems
Human–Computer Interaction
Artificial Intelligence Technologies
UCL Lead department: Culture, Communication and Media
Lead Supervisor: Brigitta Zics
Project Summary:
Citizen Data Passport (CDP): Privacy starts with full visibility of your digital self
Why this research is important
Data increasingly defines how our identities are understood and how decisions are made about us. Algorithms influence healthcare, finance, and education by combining fragments of our digital traces—DNA profiles, shopping records, travel histories, or online activity. These fragments are often incomplete, biased, and taken out of context. This project tackles two fundamental questions: what would it mean to truly own your digital twin—the complete picture of your data self—and how could understanding correlations between different datasets give you new insights into yourself?
What you will be doing
You will help design and evaluate the Citizen Data Passport (CDP), a secure and accessible platform that integrates diverse forms of personal data into one overview. The CDP will reveal how algorithms generate risk scores and profiles, while also highlighting how context changes interpretation and how overlooked aspects of life, such as caregiving, cultural practice, or emotion, could reshape identity in data systems.
Your research will involve AI modelling, multimodal data integration, correlation analysis, and transparent visualisation methods. The goal is to make hidden processes visible and interpretable, giving people new perspectives on privacy, ownership, and fairness in data-driven societies.
Who you will be working with
You will join an interdisciplinary supervisory team: Prof Brigitta Zics (UCL Knowledge Lab, UCL East), Dr Anthony Bourached (UCL Centre for Artificial Intelligence) as second supervisor, and Prof Parashkev Nachev (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) as third supervisor. Together, they bring expertise in computational media, machine learning, and biomedical data.
Who we are looking for
We seek a motivated student with an interest in AI, data science, and human-computer interaction. Programming experience is essential.