Valeriia Khlopchyk

© Valeriia Khlopchyk

1. What is the title of your thesis? How did the idea come about to deal with this particular topic?

My dissertation is entitled "Crowdworking and Data Protection in Germany, Ukraine, and the US: Market Size, Problem Areas, Regulatory Requirements." The idea to address this topic in my dissertation arose during a summer school at Bremen University thanks to my thesis advisor, Prof. Lars Hornuf, who has been working on crowdworking and the associated concerns related to data protection and privacy. 

The motivation for the research stems from the significant impact of crowdworking platforms on the global labor market and the increasing demand for crowdworking opportunities, especially in the context of digitalization, pandemics, and armed conflicts. Data privacy and data security have emerged as crucial challenges in the crowdsourcing literature, with crowdworkers facing risks such as de-anonymization, profiling, and unauthorized secondary use of their personal information. Moreover, data privacy and data security become more complex when considering the jurisdictional and regulatory aspects for crowdworking platforms operating across different countries.

Overall, the research aims to contribute to the understanding of crowdworking markets, privacy concerns, and data protection requirements in Germany, Ukraine, and the US. By addressing these topics, we hope to provide insights that can inform policymakers, platform operators, and crowdworkers themselves about the current state of the industry and potential areas for improvement in terms of privacy and data protection.

2. What are the central research questions that you ask yourself in the thesis and what methods do you use to try to answer these questions?

It is important to acknowledge the numerous challenges associated with data privacy and data security within the crowdworking market. These challenges pose significant concerns that warrant scientific investigation and exploration.

The central research questions in my thesis are:
RQ1: What is the size of the crowdworking market and what factors contribute to its development?
RQ2: Do the data protection policies of crowdworking platforms align with legal regulations?
RQ3: Do the methods of work surveillance on crowdworking platforms comply with data protection legislation?

In order to address the first research question, I conducted extensive monitoring of employer and employee demographics, task volumes, and platform financial data over a five-year period. I will perform regression analysis to explore the potential relationship between market size and various factors such as unemployment rate, education level, average wages, and the contribution of the IT sector to the national economy.

For the second research question, I will employ natural language processing techniques to analyze the privacy statements provided by different crowdworking platforms. These statements will be carefully compared to the legal regulations on data protection in Germany, Ukraine, and the US. The objective is to evaluate the level of compliance demonstrated by the privacy policies of crowdworking platforms with respect to the specific laws of each jurisdiction.

In addressing the third research question, I will establish both crowdworker and employer accounts on selected crowdworking platforms. By doing so, we will be able to examine the methods employed for work surveillance. This investigation will involve assessing the adherence of these surveillance practices to data protection legislation and determining whether they are carried out with the explicit consent of the crowdworkers.

3. What do you think are the most exciting results of your research so far?

The first milestone of our research is uncovering the market size and growth trends of the crowdworking industry globally, as well as identifying the specific factors that contribute to its development in Germany, Ukraine and the US. We managed to discover the actual number of platform users, their country of residence and their interests in the platform data policies based on the monthly traffic indicators at the platforms for the last 5 years. By employing this approach, we can obtain more accurate results compared to relying solely on interviews as a data collection method. Throughout the course of our research, it has become evident that data privacy and data security are crucial concerns for many crowdworkers when selecting a platform. Consequently, our subsequent focus will shift towards evaluating the alignment of data privacy and data security policies implemented by crowdworking platforms with the legal regulations of the aforementioned countries. This analysis will serve to identify areas where platforms can enhance their policies to ensure better safeguarding of users' personal data.

 4. You have been working at the faculty as a research assistant since July 1st, 2023 and have moved from the University of Bremen to the TU Dresden to continue your doctoral project with Prof. Hornuf. What are you particularly looking forward to here in Dresden and what will you remember most positively from your time in Bremen?

Firstly, I am excited about the opportunity to work with Prof. Hornuf, a renowned expert in my field of study. His expertise and guidance surely make a substantial contribution to the progress of the research and my academic growth.

Moreover, Dresden itself is a city renowned for its active intellectual community and rich cultural legacy. I am eager to immerse myself in this dynamic environment and engage with fellow researchers and scholars who share similar research interests. The prospect of participating in academic conferences, workshops, and collaborations at TU Dresden is something I find particularly stimulating.

Reflecting on my time in Bremen, I will always cherish the experiences and memories I gained during my tenure at the university. Bremen provided me with the opportunity to meet talented researchers and colleagues who played a significant role in shaping my journey. Overall, while I am excited about the prospects in Dresden and the academic opportunities it offers, I will always carry with me the positive experiences and memories from my time in Bremen, which have contributed to my personal and academic development.