Dr. Michael Zimmer

Dr. Michael ZimmerMarquette University

Cudahy Hall, 240E

MilwaukeeWI53201United States of America414-288-5226michael.zimmer@marquette.eduPersonal Website

Associate Professor, Director of Data Science Graduate Certificate and MS in Data Science

Department of Computer Science

Background

Prof. Michael Zimmer is a privacy and data ethics scholar whose work focuses on digital privacy & surveillance, the ethics of big data, internet research ethics, and the broader social & ethical dimensions of emerging digital technologies. With a background in communication & Internet studies, science & technology studies, and information policy & ethics, Prof. Zimmer uses mixed methods to help reveal the social and ethical dimensions of our contemporary digital ecosystem.

Courses Taught

• CORE 1929: Methods of Inquiry: Data Science
• COSC 1820: Computers, Ethics, and Society
• COSC 4820/5820: Social and Ethical Implications of Data
• COSC 6960 Seminar in Computer Science: Critical Algorithm Studies

Research Interests

• Privacy
• Data ethics
• Internet research ethics
• Social & ethical computing

Publications

• Shilton, K., Moss, E., Gilbert, S. A., Bietz, M. J., Fiesler, C., Metcalf, J., Vitak, J., & Zimmer, M. (2021). Excavating awareness and power in data science: A manifesto for trustworthy pervasive data research. Big Data & Society
• Proferes, N., Jones, N., Gilbert, S., Fiesler, C., & Zimmer, M. (2021). Studying Reddit: A Systematic Overview of Disciplines, Approaches, Methods, and Ethics. Social Media + Society.
• Reuter, K., Deodhar, A., Makri, S., Zimmer, M., Berenbaum, F., Nikiphorou, xE. (2021). COVID-19 pandemic impact on people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases: Insights from patient-generated health data on social media. Rheumatology.
• Hargittai, E., Redmiles, E. M., Vitak, J., & Zimmer, M. (2020). Americans’ willingness to adopt a COVID-19 tracking app. First Monday, 25(11). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v25i11.11095
• Vitak, J., & Zimmer, M. (2020). More Than Just Privacy: Using Contextual Integrity to Evaluate the Long-Term Risks from COVID-19 Surveillance Technologies. Social Media + Society.
• Wu, P., Vitak, J., & Zimmer, M. (2020). A Contextual Approach to Information Privacy Research. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology. 71(4). 485-490.   
• Zimmer, M., Kumar, P., Vitak, J., Liao, Y., & Chamberlain Kritikos, K. (2020). ‘There’s Nothing Really They Can Do with This Information’: Unpacking How Users Manage Privacy Boundaries for Personal Fitness Information. Information, Communication & Society, 23(7), 1020-1037.
• Reuter ,K., Zhu, Y., Angyan, P., Le, N., Merchant, A., Zimmer, M. (2019). Public Concern About Monitoring Twitter Users and Their Conversations to Recruit for Clinical Trials: Survey Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(10).
• Chu, K. H., Colditz, J., Sidani, J., Zimmer, M., & Primack, B. (2019). Re-evaluating standards of human subjects protection for sensitive health data in social media networks. Social Networks.
• Liao, Y., Vitak, J., Kumar, P., Zimmer, M., & Kritikos, K. (2019). Understanding the Role of Privacy and Trust in Intelligent Personal Assistant Adoption. In Proceedings of the 14th Annual iConference, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (iConference) (pp. 102-113).
• Zimmer, M. (2018). Addressing Conceptual Gaps in Big Data Research Ethics: An Application of Contextual Integrity. Social Media + Society, 4(2).
• Zimmer, M. & Kinder-Kurlanda, K. (Eds.). (2017). Internet Research Ethics for the Social Age: New Challenges, Cases, and Contexts. New York: Peter Lang

Grants

• “Public Opinion Research on Artificial Intelligence in Public Health Responses” American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Co-Principal Investigator: $18,689. 2020-2021
• “How COVID-19 is Changing Workplace Surveillance: American Workers’ Experiences & Privacy Expectations When Working from Home” Social Science Research Council (SSRC) Rapid-Response Grants on Covid-19 and the Social Sciences. Co-Principal Investigator: $5,000. 2020-2021

• "PERVADE: Pervasive Data Ethics for Computational Research". National Science Foundation (NSF) CHS: LARGE: Collaborative Research grant. Co-Principal Investigator: $373,957 ($3 million total project funding). 2017-2021

• “Mapping Privacy and Surveillance Dynamics in Emerging Mobile Ecosystems: Practices and Contexts in the Netherlands and US.” National Science Foundation (NSF) EAGER (EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research) grant. Co-Principal Investigator: $100,685 ($262,000 total project funding). 2016-2019