White Paper / Technical Report
Supporting At-Risk Users Through Responsible Computing
Kevin R.B. Butler, Sunny Consolvo, Katie Siek, Tammy Toscos, Pamela Wisniewski, Haley Griffin, Nazanin Andalibi, Rosa I. Arriaga, Beenish Moalla Chaudhry, Munmun De Choudhury, Jeremy Epstein, Oliver L. Haimson, Sharon Heung, Zaidat Ibrahim, Patrick Gage Kelley, Vera Khovanskaya, Anna Lenhart, Aqueasha Martin-Hammond, Jessica McClearn, Vivian Genaro Motti, Chinasa T. Okolo, Jessica Pater, Wanda Pratt, Sydney Saubestre, Vincent M.B. Silenzio, Dhanaraj Thakur, Alexandra To, Emily Tseng, Rebecca Umbach
CCC Visioning Workshop Report, Computing Research Association, October 2025
October 2025
Abstract
The 2024 Supporting At-Risk Users Through Responsible Computing (SARU) Visioning Workshop — hosted by the NSF-funded Computing Community Consortium (CCC) — convened 49 experts from academia, industry, and civil society to address challenges faced by people at heightened risk of technology-facilitated harm. During the workshop and in this report, we use this working definition of "at-risk users": individuals who experience disproportionate technology-facilitated threats such as online harassment, cyberstalking, and digital exploitation. The workshop sought to establish a sociotechnical research agenda to develop ethical, human-centered computing approaches that protect, empower, and meaningfully support such people. Attendees shared resources, including frameworks and methodologies, for conducting responsible research, ensuring participant and researcher safety, and designing technologies that aim to serve all people. Key outcomes included the development of a resource repository, a proposal for an advisory board, and strategies for incentivizing stakeholder engagement across academia, industry, and policymaking. The workshop also emphasized the need for structural changes in research funding, institutional incentives, and policy impact to ensure that computing research actively contributes to the broader landscape of digital safety for all. Moving forward, this initiative aims to build a sustainable, interdisciplinary research community dedicated to mitigating technology-facilitated harm and fostering ethical research and computing practices that center the needs of at-risk users.
- at-risk users
- product design
- research methods
- workshop
Cite this paper
@techreport{butler2025supporting,
title = {Supporting At-Risk Users Through Responsible Computing},
author = {Butler, Kevin R.B. and Consolvo, Sunny and Siek, Katie and Toscos, Tammy and Wisniewski, Pamela and Griffin, Haley and Andalibi, Nazanin and Arriaga, Rosa I. and Chaudhry, Beenish Moalla and Choudhury, Munmun De and Epstein, Jeremy and Haimson, Oliver L. and Heung, Sharon and Ibrahim, Zaidat and Kelley, Patrick Gage and Khovanskaya, Vera and Lenhart, Anna and Martin-Hammond, Aqueasha and McClearn, Jessica and Motti, Vivian Genaro and Okolo, Chinasa T. and Pater, Jessica and Pratt, Wanda and Saubestre, Sydney and Silenzio, Vincent M.B. and Thakur, Dhanaraj and To, Alexandra and Tseng, Emily and Umbach, Rebecca},
year = {2025},
institution = {CCC Visioning Workshop Report, Computing Research Association, October 2025},
url = {https://pgk.io/papers/2025-supporting-at-risk-users-through-responsible-computing/},
}