Motivation

Ensuring privacy compliance in software development is a growing challenge for organizations. Regulations such as the GDPR increase the need to integrate privacy requirements directly into software systems. While technical solutions exist, little is known about how developers in practice understand, interpret, and implement privacy requirements in code. Qualitative research can provide insights into current practices, challenges, and potential improvements.

Description

The aim of this thesis is to investigate how privacy requirements are implemented in software projects. The thesis will focus on a self-chosen, privacy-relevant application context (e.g., web applications, mobile apps, cloud systems). The student will design and conduct semi-structured interviews with software developers and analyze how privacy compliance is achieved in practice. The research should provide insights into the alignment between privacy requirements and their technical realization in code.

Tasks

• Define research scope and select a privacy-relevant application context
• Develop interview guidelines and recruit participants
• Conduct and transcribe semi-structured interviews with software developers
• Analyze interview data using qualitative research methods
• Derive findings on current practices, challenges, and gaps in privacy-compliant software development

Requirements

• Strong interest in privacy and software engineering
• Knowledge of qualitative research methods is an advantage, but not mandatory
• Ability to work independently and systematically
• Basic programming knowledge to understand technical discussions

What we offer

• Supervision and guidance in qualitative research design
• Feedback on interview protocols, analysis, and writing
• Opportunity to contribute to ongoing research in privacy and software development

Application

If you are interested in writing your thesis, please send me an email (saha@ise.tu-…) including your transcript of records and CV.