How would you describe your work in 90 seconds?

My research is focused on developing privacy-enhancing technologies. Everyone has the right to control access to their personal information, actions, communications, and decisions. This is a fundamental aspect of privacy. People often view privacy as a hindrance to the development of new technologies, and they’re quick to point out that privacy regulations prevent them from doing X. The field of medicine provides a prime example of this. Many doctors are unable to carry out their research effectively due to the severe restrictions placed on data protection laws, but I see it differently. Data protection laws are important to protect individuals’ privacy, and my research develops technologies that are specifically made for the purpose of providing secure and reliable access to sensitive data while guaranteeing privacy. My research enables technological advancements in areas where progress would otherwise not be possible.

How did you get in touch with informatics?

Oh, very early, when I was still a young child, essentially. Of course, I liked to play computer games, and I tried to convince my parents to get me an Atari console (very old computer stuff). At some point, I got a bit tired of just playing video games, though, and I became interested in how the console actually works. I wanted to learn programming and I took evening classes, so there were only adults there. I went there at the age of, how old was I, maybe 13? And I learned my first programming language Pascal, and this is how I got into it. I was very excited and I really, really liked it and never wanted to do anything else.

Where do you see the connection between your research and everyday life?

I see connections everywhere, basically. I come from the field of cryptography, especially the theory of cryptography. In the past, cryptography was mainly focused on military applications, but today it’s used by everyone and everywhere. Every time you check your email or your bank account, every time you use Google Maps to plan your trip, our algorithms make sure that your connection is private. The pictures you take with your phone are stored in the cloud, and cryptography ensures that your data is secure. As we connect to more and more devices - like our Apple Watch, which measures our blood pressure, or other health apps - the more we want to know about ourselves, the more important privacy becomes. As a result, the algorithms we build affect virtually everyone in their daily lives.

What makes you happy in your work?

What really excites me about privacy-enhancing technologies is, on the one hand, the technical or mathematical difficulty of building them. The underlying theory is so beautiful and neat. On the other hand, the seamless integration of our technologies into our daily lives without us being aware of how hard it was to build them in the first place. The really cool thing is that no one is really aware of all the privacy-enhancing technologies they’re using; you’re using them seamlessly, and they’re protecting your privacy. I’m very excited about the balance between theoretical hardness and the fact that these technologies are being used for a wide range of applications. The downside of my work is that it’s very complex, so it’s very challenging to explain to non-experts how and why it actually works. I believe in Einstein’s quote “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough”. This quote tells me that we are still in our infancy when it comes to privacy research. There are an infinite number of open questions that need to be answered, and if I succeed one day, I will be able to describe it in simpler terms.

Why do you think there are still so few women in computer science?

That’s a very tough question. I think at TU Wien Informatics, we have an amazing number of women working here, so TU is doing an excellent job in that regard. At the university I worked at before coming to TU Wien, there was only one female professor, and she eventually retired, so we were down to zero. I think one problem is that we start introducing computer science to girls too late. We should really start in primary school, which TU Wien Informatics is already doing (ed. note: with the eduLAB initiative). We should introduce girls to informatics at an early age and show them that it is an exciting and broad field. The second problem I see is cultural. There’s a tendency in our society to think that math is for boys, which, of course, is wrong, so we need to change that mindset. Another thing is having role models, and at TU Wien Informatics there are many excellent female role models. Yet another problem is the path to becoming a professor: The higher up the hierarchy you go, the fewer women you’ll find. There’s a lack of perspective, at least in Germany. There are a lot of temporary positions, which becomes problematic once you start a family. You’re out of the academic system for a certain period of time, and when you apply for positions afterward, the men who didn’t leave were publishing and getting research grants during that time. It’s very hard to make this system fairer, and that’s why I think there should be (and this is probably discrimination against men) dedicated positions for women. Academia is, in a sense, very discriminatory when it comes to age. At the end of the day, people look at your CV and ask where you published, what grants you got, how many PhDs you have, and what your outreach is. Being out of the academic system for a certain amount of time doesn’t help, and that’s why I think we really need to create positions specifically for women.

Dominique Schröder is Professor of and Head of the Research Unit Privacy Enhancing Technologies at TU Wien Informatics. Dominique Schröder will hold a joint Inaugural Lecture on October 15, 2024; 17:00 CEST at EI 9, Gußhausstraße together with Magdalena Ortiz and Emanuel Sallinger.

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