An Analysis of Stack Exchange Questions: Identifying Challenges in Software Design and Development with a Focus on Data Privacy and Data Protection

Abstract

Data privacy and protection are essential in today’s digital landscape, with software developers’ playing a critical role in addressing these challenges. This paper presents a comprehensive study of the challenges and issues faced by software developers’ in the context of data privacy and protection. Our analysis is based on a dataset of questions posted on popular online platforms, such as Stack Overflow, Information Security Stack Exchange, and Software Engineering Stack Exchange. Our findings reveal a range of challenges, including the design and generation of privacy policies, compliance with legal frameworks, and implementation of privacy-preserving features in software systems. We also observed interest in policy-related questions and confusion between data privacy concepts and programming language access control mechanisms. Based on our findings, we provide recommendations to address these challenges and promote privacy-by-design principles in software development.