A Study on the Prevalence of Privacy in Software Engineering
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Issued Date
2025-06-13
Resource Type
ISSN
03600300
eISSN
15577341
DOI
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-105011262464
Journal Title
ACM Computing Surveys
Volume
57
Issue
11
Rights Holder(s)
SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
ACM Computing Surveys Vol.57 No.11 (2025)
Suggested Citation
Sangaroonsilp P., Dam H.K. A Study on the Prevalence of Privacy in Software Engineering. ACM Computing Surveys Vol.57 No.11 (2025). doi:10.1145/3734216 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/111433
Title
A Study on the Prevalence of Privacy in Software Engineering
Author(s)
Author's Affiliation
Corresponding Author(s)
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Abstract
The continuous growth and widespread use of digital technologies have made the protection of personal data and individual rights one of the major concerns when developing software systems and applications. Furthermore, data protection regulations and privacy standards have imposed additional responsibilities on software engineers. Failure to achieve these privacy and regulatory requirements can lead to user dissatisfaction, damage to organisations’ reputation, and potential legal non-compliance. Software engineering (SE) researchers have been exploring various aspects to address privacy concerns in software development. To provide the SE community a comprehensive overview of the prevalence of privacy considerations in SE research, we conducted a systematic mapping study following well-established guidelines for collecting and categorising primary studies. Our study identified 187 primary studies and categorised their contributions based on various perspectives. Our results reveal the following key findings: (a) privacy considerations are prevalent in 12.14% of all possible primary studies; (b) the most common type of problems, contributions and validation methods employed; and (c) the distribution of focus and scope in primary studies as well as the potential directions for future research. These findings offer both quantitative and qualitative insights of trends and opportunities that can benefit both SE researchers, academics and practitioners.