Call for Papers: Symposium on Usable Security and Privacy (USEC) 2025

The call for papers is now open.

The Symposium on Usable Security and Privacy (USEC) invites submissions on all aspects of human factors and usability in the context of security and privacy. USEC ’25 aims to bring together researchers already engaged in this interdisciplinary effort with other researchers in relevant areas. We encourage economics, HCI, AI, theoretical computer science, cryptography, psychology, and business studies researchers and practitioners to submit original research in this area. We particularly encourage collaborative research from authors in multiple fields.

To honor significant contributions that have had a lasting impact on the field, USEC ’25 will also feature a Test of Time Award. This award will celebrate research demonstrating enduring relevance and influence in usable security and privacy over the past 14 years of USEC. We will invite nominations for this award from the Organizing Committee, Program Committee, and authors submitting their works to USEC ’25. This recognition will honor research that continues to shape and inspire current and future investigations in the discipline.

Submission Guidelines for Papers

All submissions must be original work; authors must clearly document any overlap with previously published or simultaneously submitted papers from any of the authors. All papers should be written in English. We will review longer papers on mature/completed work in a research track, as well as shorter papers on work in progress, or work that has yet to begin, in a vision track. We aim to provide a venue for researchers at all stages of their careers and at all stages of their projects. The text must be in Times font, 10-point or larger, with 11-point or larger line spacing. Use the templates for NDSS Symposium and co-located events.

Research Track: The research track is intended to report on mature work that has been completed. The goal of the USEC’s research track is to disseminate results of interest to the broader usable security and privacy community. Papers must not be more than 12 pages in length using the two-column submission format, excluding bibliography and well-marked appendices. Try to scale the length of the paper according to the contributions you describe therein. Authors have the option to attach to their paper‘s supplementary appendices with study materials (e.g., survey instruments, interview guides, etc.) that would not otherwise take up valuable space within the body of the paper. Reviewers are not required to read appendices, so your paper should be self-contained without them.

Meta-Science Track: The Meta-Science Track is intended to report on mature work and seeks to disseminate results that contribute to the broader understanding and improvement of research practices, including the replicability of studies and the systematization of existing knowledge. Submissions in this track may include comprehensive evaluations of research methodologies, studies that replicate and verify prior findings, meta-analyses that synthesize existing literature, and SoK papers that systematically organize and analyze research in a specific domain. Papers must not exceed 12 pages in length using the two-column submission format, excluding bibliography and well-marked appendices. Authors are encouraged to scale the length of their paper according to the contributions they describe therein. Additionally, authors have the option to attach supplementary appendices with materials such as study protocols, datasets, or detailed methodological descriptions that would not otherwise take up valuable space within the body of the paper. However, reviewers are not required to read these appendices, so the main paper should be self-contained without them.

Vision Track: The vision track is intended to report on work in progress or concrete ideas for work that has yet to begin. The focus of the vision track is to spark discussion with the goal of providing the authors helpful feedback, pointers to potentially related investigations, and new ideas to explore. Suitable submissions to the vision track include traditional work-in-progress pieces such as preliminary results of pre-studies but also research proposals and position papers outlining future research. Papers must be up to 5 pages in length using the two-column format, excluding bibliography and well-marked appendices.

The submission portal for papers: https://usec25.hotcrp.com/

Reviewing will be double-blind. Author names and affiliations should not appear in the paper. The authors should make a reasonable effort not to reveal their identities or institutional affiliations in the text, figures, photos, links, or other data that is contained in the paper. Authors’ prior work should be preferably referred to in the third person; if this is not feasible, the references should be blinded. Submissions that violate these requirements will be rejected without review. The list of authors cannot be changed after the acceptance decision is made unless approved by the Program Chairs.

Areas of Interest

Topics include, but are not limited to:

Innovative security or privacy functionality and design
New applications of existing models or technology
Usability evaluations of new or existing security or privacy features and lessons learned
Security testing of new or existing usability features
Psychological, sociological, and economic aspects of security and privacy
Research and design methodologies for human-centric security and privacy research

Reports of replicating previously published studies and experiments
Reports of failed usable privacy/security studies or experiments, with the focus on the lessons learned from such experience
Systematization of Knowledge
Inclusive security and privacy
Ethics in human-centric security and privacy research
Workforce, labels, cyber-physical systems
Usability in smart manufacturing

All submissions must clearly relate to the human aspects of security or privacy. Papers on security or privacy that do not address usability or human factors will not be considered. Likewise, papers on usability or human factors that do not address security or privacy will not be considered. The determination of whether a paper is within scope will be solely at the discretion of the program committee chairs.

For accepted papers, at least one author must attend USEC 2025 and present their paper.

Important Dates

Submission Deadline: 25 November 2024, 11:59 pm, Anywhere-on-earth (AOE)
Reviews Due: 16 December 2024
Discussion Period: 16-19 December 2024
Notification of Acceptance: 20 December 2024
Camera Ready Deadline: 28 January 2025
Workshop Date: 24 February 2025

Conflicts of Interest

Authors and Program Committee members are required to indicate any conflict of interest and its nature. Advisors and those that they are advising, as well as authors and PC members with an institutional relationship are considered to share a conflict of interest. Professional collaborations (irrespective of whether they resulted in publication or funding) that occurred in the past 2 years and close personal relationships equally constitute a conflict of interest. PC members, including chairs, that have a conflict of interest with a paper, will be entirely excluded from the evaluation of that paper.