Sociotechnical Privacy and Security conference (SPS 2026)

The first annual conference, which emerged by combining two successful events will be held on 2-3 September, 2026, University of Luxembourg, Belval Campus. The main focus areas of the event are research and discussion of issues related human-computer interactions (HCI), security, and privacy.

About the conference

Successful attacks on information systems rarely target technology alone. They also exploit the human element from insecure user behaviour and poorly designed interfaces to unclear or unrealistic security policies. Addressing security effectively therefore requires more than reducing technical vulnerabilities; it demands a clear understanding of user needs, behaviours, and contexts. Technology designers and policy-makers must take these human factors into account to build truly secure systems.

This new conference brings together two well-established events in socio-technical, user-centred privacy and security: European Symposium on Usable Security (EuroUSEC) and International Workshop on Socio-Technical Aspects in Security (STAST). By combining their strengths, the conference aims to unite researchers and practitioners from a wide range of disciplines, including computer science, engineering, psychology, social sciences, and economics. It provides a forum to present research and to discuss the human-computer interaction challenges that shape security and privacy today.

Call for papers

We welcome submissions presenting unpublished, original research across all areas of usable security and privacy. We also invite systematisation of knowledge (SoK) papers with a clear connection to usable security and privacy. Well-executed replication studies are welcome, and we also encourage papers that present and discuss negative or insignificant results.

We value a broad range and combination of research methods, including both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Topics include, but are not limited to:

usable security and privacy implications or solutions for specific domains (such as IoT, eHealth, and vulnerable populations)
methodologies for usable security and privacy research
the role of AI and generative AI technologies in improving usable security and privacy
field studies of security or privacy technologies
longitudinal studies of deployed security or privacy features
new applications of existing privacy or security models or technologies
innovative security or privacy functionality and design
usability evaluations of new or existing security or privacy features
security testing of new or existing usability features
lessons learned from the deployment and use of usable security and privacy features
reports of failed usable security or privacy studies or experiments, with a focus on lessons learned
replication studies of previously published, influential studies and experiments
psychological, sociological, cultural, or economic aspects of security and privacy
studies of administrators or developers, and support for security and privacy
studies on the adoption or acceptance of security or privacy technologies
systematisation of knowledge papers
the impact of organisational policy or procurement decisions on security and privacy

Types of contributions

Full papers (8–12 pages) should present complete, original research, address well-defined research questions, and report full and stable results.

Format and page limits

All papers should be submitted via EasyChair. Papers must be typeset in LaTeX in A4 format (not “US Letter”) using the IEEE conference proceedings template (eurosp-template.zip). Please do not use other IEEE templates.

Submissions must be in Portable Document Format (PDF). Authors should ensure that unusual fonts, images, and figures do not create problems for reviewers. Documents must render correctly in Adobe Reader XI and when printed in black and white. Failure to adhere to page limits or formatting requirements may result in desk rejection.

Review and publications

SPS adopts a double-anonymised review policy. Papers will be reviewed by at least two PC members. The authors can declare any conflicts of interest at the time of submission or by informing the PC chairs or organisers. Accepted papers will be published through IEEE.

Use of AI

The use of AI tools is permitted; however, authors remain fully responsible for any content produced using these tools. Any use of AI must be explicitly disclosed. Plagiarism or other forms of research misconduct resulting from the use of AI tools remain the responsibility of the authors.

Reviewers are not permitted to use AI tools when reading submitted papers, in order to prevent AI-generated reviews and to maintain confidentiality.

Important dates

Submission open date

March 20th
Obligatory abstract registration

May 20th
Submission deadline

May 25th
Notification for authors

June 25th
Shepherding starts

June 25th
Camera ready submission

July 27th

Contact

anastasia.sergeeva@uni.lu