AI NSFW Models Group, UC Santa Cruz
Measuring the persistence, creator recurrence, and cross-platform diffusion of models associated with AI-generated non-consensual intimate imagery.
May 2026 - Present
Researching empirical security and privacy, synthetic media ecosystems, and the societal impacts of emerging technologies.
I am a Fulbright Germany Scholar pursuing an M.S. in Cybersecurity and Computer Science at Georgia Tech. My research focuses on empirical security and privacy, synthetic media ecosystems, and human-centered cybersecurity.
Research
ETH Zurich Security, Privacy and Society Group
Contributed to survey design, pretesting, qualitative coding, and analysis for studies on cybersecurity success cases and transparent security and privacy nudges.
April 2026 - July 2026
Artificial Intelligence in German Hospitals
Conducted qualitative research on the adoption and governance of AI in German hospitals, examining administrative and clinical use cases, data protection, bias, and organizational implementation challenges.
March 2024 - June 2024
Publications
Minors and Deepfake Risks: A Review of Exposure, Detection, and Regulation
Teaching and Industry Experience
- Machine Learning Teaching Assistant, Georgia Institute of Technology. Supporting CS 4641/7641 Machine Learning under Dr. Roozbahani, including course assistance for undergraduate and graduate students.
- Security Specialist, Microsoft. Supported enterprise customers in Zero Trust, identity security, threat protection, cloud security, data governance, and security strategy.
- Amazon. Additional industry experience.
- Accenture. Technology consulting and project management for client-facing transformation work.
- Gucci. Additional industry experience.
Awards
- See Yourself in Cyber Scholarship, National Cybersecurity Alliance and ISACA, 2026
- Women in Business Leadership Award, Zonta International District 14, 2026
- Fulbright Graduate Study Award, German-American Fulbright Commission, 2025
Skills and Projects
Research Methods
Large-scale data collection, longitudinal measurement, qualitative coding, survey design, literature reviews.
Technical
Python, SQL, data analysis, web and API data collection, machine learning fundamentals.
Research Areas
Empirical security and privacy, synthetic media, online abuse, human-centered security, technology governance.
Contact
I welcome inquiries about research collaborations in empirical security, privacy, and synthetic media. You can reach me at esimons30 [at] gatech [dot] edu.