This poster describes work on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in open-source software. Although open-source software is commonly integrated into regulated software, and thus must be engineered or adapted for compliance, we do not know how such laws impact open-source software development. We surveyed open-source developers (N=47) to understand their experiences and perceptions of GDPR. We learned many engineering challenges, primarily regarding the management of users' data and assessments of compliance. We call for improved policy-related resources, especially tools to support data privacy regulation implementation and compliance in open-source software.
@article{arxiv.2401.14629,
title = {A First Look at the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Open-Source Software},
author = {Lucas Franke and Huayu Liang and Aaron Brantly and James C Davis and Chris Brown},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2401.14629},
year = {2024}
}