Collection Overview

Scientific Reports has launched a Guest-Edited Collection on Protecting data and privacy during human-machine interactions.

As human-machine interactions become more prevalent through voice assistants, wearable devices, autonomous systems, and intelligent interfaces ensuring data protection and user privacy is increasingly critical. These interactions often involve continuous data collection, contextual awareness, and adaptive responses, raising concerns about consent, transparency, and control of the data.

This will be a Collection of research papers and will be open for submissions from all authors – on the condition that the manuscripts fall within the scope of the Collection and of Scientific Reports more generally. We are welcoming submissions until 26th August 2026.

Q&A with Dr. Simon Dang (Guest Editor)

1. Relevance and Importance

In a world where digital interactions are no longer a choice but a necessity, the "privacy-utility tradeoff" has reached a breaking point. This topic is vital because it addresses the foundational trust required for society to adopt autonomous systems and AI. Without robust privacy-preserving protocols, the potential of HMI to improve healthcare, accessibility, and productivity will be stifled by justified public skepticism and regulatory hurdles.

2. Why This Collection is Exciting
What makes this Collection particularly thrilling is its interdisciplinary nature. We aren't just looking at encryption; we are looking at how humans perceive trust and how machines can be designed to respect boundaries dynamically. Seeing how researchers bridge the gap between "hard" cybersecurity and "soft" human factors to create seamless, respectful technology is incredibly inspiring.

3. Potential Impact on the Field
We expect this Collection to serve as a blueprint for the next generation of "Privacy-by-Design" systems. By consolidating research on secure interaction protocols and ethical frameworks, we hope to shift the industry standard from reactive data protection to proactive, inherent privacy. This could significantly lower the barrier for integrating AI into sensitive sectors like home care and personalized medicine.

4. Why Researchers Should Submit
Researchers should submit to this Collection in Scientific Reports to reach a global, multidisciplinary audience that is actively seeking solutions to these specific friction points. Beyond the high visibility, this is an opportunity to contribute to a curated dialogue in privacy, ensuring your work helps shape the ethical and technical standards of future human-machine collaboration.

Why submit to a Collection? 

Collections like this one help promote high-quality science. They are led by Guest Editors, who are experts in their fields, and In-House Editors and are supported by a dedicated team of Commissioning Editors and Managing Editors at Springer Nature. Collection manuscripts typically see higher citations, downloads, and Altmetric scores, and provide a one-stop-shop on a cutting-edge topic of interest. 

Who is involved? 

Guest Editors:

• Abdullatif Baba, Kuwait College of Science and Technology, Kuwait
• Simon Dang, Gannon University, USA
• Sanja Dogramadzi, University of Sheffield, UK
• Fabio Fruggiero, University of Basilicata, Italy
• Vivek Kant, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India

Internal Team:

• In-House Editor: Dr. Thomas Tischer, Scientific Reports, Germany
• Commissioning Editor: Faija Miah, Fully OA Brands, Springer Nature, UK
• Managing Editor: Chantale Davies, Fully OA Brands, Springer Nature, UK

How can I submit my paper? 

Visit the Collection page to find out more about this Collection and how to submit your article.