Large delegation from Utrecht University at CPDP 2023 conference

Utrecht University is very well represented at “Computers, Privacy and Data Protection (CPDP) 2023: Ideas that drive our digital world”, the sixteenth edition of the international conference, that takes place from 24 to 26 May in Brussels. The full programme of the conference is available here. Underneath, some contributions of Utrecht University researchers will be highlighted.

CPDP

Computers, Privacy and Data Protection (CPDP) is a non-profit platform originally founded in 2007 by research groups from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, the Université de Namur and Tilburg University. The platform was joined in the following years by the Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique and the Fraunhofer Institut für System und Innovationsforschung and has now grown into a platform carried by 20 academic centers of excellence from the EU, the US and beyond.

As a world-leading multidisciplinary conference CPDP offers the cutting edge in legal, regulatory, academic and technological development in privacy and data protection. Within an atmosphere of independence and mutual respect, CPDP gathers academics, lawyers, practitioners, policy-makers, industry and civil society from all over the world in Brussels, offering them an arena to exchange ideas and discuss the latest emerging issues and trends. This unique multidisciplinary formula has served to make CPDP one of the leading data protection and privacy conferences in Europe and around the world.

This year the conference coincides with the heated public debate revolving around AI and the finalising of the AI Act in the European parliament. We expect lively discussion between the different participants from industry, policy, research and civil society advocacy.

Utrecht University conference contributions

• On Wednesday 24 May 14:15, Catalina Goanta facilitates the workshop “Tensions between consumer law and privacy in the content creator economy”. The workshop brings together regulators and multidisciplinary academics to reflect upon the increasing tensions arising from the commodification of identity by content creators, who need to comply with commercial obligations set out by consumer protection, while also having own expectations of privacy and publicity. Alessia D’Amico will be one of the workshop speakers.
   
• On 25 May 11:45, The ERC INFO-LEG project organises a roundtable “It’s not about the personal data, stupid! Is it time to focus legal protection against risks of the digital society on something else?”, which is (co-)moderated by Nadya Purtova. Experts from the law practice and academia will discuss if the regulatory focus on personal data as a trigger of legal protection obscures the problems we want to solve, and if focusing on different regulatory targets will do the job better. If it’s time for a redesign of the legal protection against harms of the digital society, how should it look like?
   
• On 26 May 08:45, Mirko Schaefer will moderate a panel entitled “Beyond ethics washing: Impactassessments, audits, and oversight for AI”. Looking further than the good intentions of ethics guidelines, this panel discusses which best practices are most effective to align the design and use of AI systems with the values of our open and democratic societies. This panel investigates how practical approaches, such as impact assessments and audits, and the role of oversight bodies help to establish responsible and safe uses of AI and big data practices and can constitute accountability. Iris Muis will be one of the speakers during this panel.
   
• Finally, it is worth noting that the "Guardians of ethical AI" panel on 25 May 08:45 comes forth out of a collaboration between Utrecht University and KU Leuven, Maynooth University, SMIT Brussles, and University of Porto, aiming to develop an interdisciplinary university study programme for digital ethicists. Joel Anderson, Mirko Schaefer, and Iris Muis represent the Utrecht participation in this ongoing effort.