neilly h. tan

/NEE-lee/ · she/her

On the job market:I’m seeking postdoc, teaching, research, and tech policy roles in Seattle or remote for fall 2027.
— Feel free to reach out!

I am a sociotechnical scholar and design researcher studying the ethical, social, and political implications of personal data and technology systems, drawing on HCI, critical data studies, and STS. My current research centers on power dynamics and possibilities for resistance around everyday surveillance technologies, such as the smart home camera, particularly in domestic care work.

I am a Ph.D. candidate in Human-Centered Design and Engineering at the University of Washington, co-advised by Drs. Sean Munson and Audrey Desjardins. Currently, I am a Martha H. Duggan Fellow in Caring Labor at the UW Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies, and my work has been supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

Outside of work, I powerlift, doomscroll Facebook Marketplace for new plants, and hang out with my girlfriend and our cat, DD

✉nhtan @ uw [dot] edu
Curriculum Vitae (updated 10/2026)
✎Google Scholar · ⧉LinkedIn

Short bio for introductions (click to expand)(click to collapse)

Neilly H. Tan is a Ph.D. candidate in Human-Centered Design and Engineering at the University of Washington. She is a sociotechnical scholar and design researcher who studies the ethical, social, and political implications of personal data and technology systems, drawing on HCI, critical data studies, and STS. Her research centers on power dynamics and possibilities for resistance around everyday surveillance technologies, such as the smart home camera, particularly in domestic care work. Currently, she is a Martha H. Duggan Fellow in Caring Labor at the UW Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies, and her work has been supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

Shorter bio (one line):

Neilly H. Tan is a Ph.D. candidate in Human-Centered Design and Engineering at the University of Washington studying power and resistance around everyday surveillance technologies in domestic care work.

Black-and-white portrait of Neilly H. Tan.

recent news

2026–27 I received the Martha H. Duggan Fellowship in Caring Labor from the UW Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies. I'm very grateful for their support of research that centers care workers’ knowledge and collective futures. 10/2026 I gave a presentation about Caring Labor Futures in the Home on the Reclaiming the Futures of Work panel at 4S. 09/2026 Our paper on autonomy, control, and privacy in always-on home IoT care relationships with older adults, led by Shengzhi Wang, was published in IMWUT! 07/2026 I was interviewed by Vox for an article, "Your Ring camera isn't stopping crime. But it might be making you paranoid." 06/2026 I participated in the Workers Confront Racial Capitalism summer school at the UW Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies.
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11/2024 Passed my dissertation proposal, Data Politics, Data Practices, and Data Imaginaries in the Home: Case Studies around the 'Smart' Home Security Camera, and am now ABD. 06/2023 Attended HCIC 2023 on supporting online trust and safety, privacy, and security. 09/2022 Gave a virtual talk for CHI Manila on critical and design research perspectives on sensing technologies in the home. 06/2022 Started a UX Research internship at Meta on the Data Infrastructure team (privacy and security products). 05/2022 Passed my generals exam and became a PhD candidate. 02/2022 Two papers accepted to CHI 2022, on everyday uses of smart home cameras and critical-playful speculations with home cameras.