Programme 2017

Controlling Data, Controlling Machines: Dangers and Solutions

9:00-9:30 Coffee & welcome

9:30-11:00 Community Building Workshop: Societal Impacts of Big Data and the Role of Civil Society | ROOM 2200
This panel will discuss how civil society can engage in the policy debates on Big Data. Currently civil society engages in the political discussion on the large legal frameworks, but is generally missing in other important areas where Big Data policy is developed. This panel can be an opportunity to explore which are important areas to focus on and how civil society can get involved. The discussion would also go deeper into the societal impacts of Big Data, in the context of the research findings of the BYTE project.

Moderator: Rocco Bellanova, University of Amsterdam and USL-B
Speakers:
Hans Lammerant, VUB and BYTE
Diego Naranjo, EDRi
Estelle Massé, AccessNow
Christian D’Cunha, EDPS

9:30-11:00 Owning the Web Together: Peer Production and Sharing | ROOM 2300
Is the sharing economy as manifested by Uber, Airbnb and such about sharing? Or is it just another example of monetizing social interactions? Unethical labor practices are part of the business models of these companies besides other regulatory woes. Moreover these “convenient” services often come at the cost of selling our personal data. Is it possible to create online platforms based on genuine practices of sharing, with different ownership models and fair working conditions? What is platform cooperativism and how can it help to create a fairer online economy? What are the promises of peer production? Why does decentralization matter? How do the new Bitcoin-powered “blockchain” technologies create possibilities for decentralized networks and platforms? Are the commons-based decentralized digital platforms a utopian dream? What are the new challenges they would bring about? In light of these questions, this session will discuss the future of the Internet.

Moderator: Seda Gürses, KULeuven
Speakers:
Ela Kagel, Supermarkt- platform for digital culture and alternative economies
Shermin Voshmgir, BlockchainHub
Tim Jordan, University of Sussex

11:00-11:30 Coffee break

11:30-12:45 Instant Big Data Targeting: Programmatic Ad Tech & Beyond | ROOM 2200
This workshop will explain the structure of programmatic advertising, especially in the EU; discuss how our personal data is treated and for what purposes; and examine its role in political campaigns. Through a collaborative discussion, we will seek to identify an agenda that data-protection campaigners can embrace to help promote policy safeguards, public education, and other ways to respond to the corporate-designed information machines that are increasingly programming our lives.

Moderator: Anna Fielder, Privacy International
Speakers:
Jeff Chester, Center for Digital Democracy
Wolfie Christl, Cracked Labs
Frederik Borgesius, University of Amsterdam

11:30-12:45 The Internet of Things, Security and Privacy | ROOM 2300
With the development of the Internet of Things, more and more gadgets will be able monitor our live patterns, from what we eat to how we sleep. But the problems do not stop there – there is also the widespread vulnerability of IoT devices to hacking as highlighted by the recent ‘distributed denial of service’ (DDoS) attacks that used household devices to disrupt access to hundreds of major websites. So what will surveillance of the future look like? This panel discusses existing problems and aims at a constructive brainstorming session to find (technical and political) solutions, starting with the design of IoT devices and interfaces, to legislative approaches and security education.

Moderator: Sid Rao, Mozilla Advocacy Open Web Fellow at EDRi
Speakers:
Finn Myrstad, Norwegian Consumer Council
Katitza Rodriguez, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Andreas Krisch, EDRi and Forum Datenschutz
Fieke Jansen, Tactical Tech

12:45-14:00 Lunch

14:00-15:30 Lightning Talks | ROOM 2200
• Alexander Czadilek, Epicenter.works: Presentation of HEAT – Handbook for the Evaluation of Anti-Terrorism legislation
• Katarzyna Szymielewicz, Panoptykon: How to ensure a strong GDPR implementation
• Eva Lievens, UGent: “Youth in the data deluge: How can the GDPR protect their privacy while fostering their autonomy”
• CDT: The ‘right to explainability’
• EDRi: Presentation of Digital Defenders: privacy for kids comic booklet
• Arne Hintz, Cardiff University: Presentation of Data Justice Lab

14:00-15:30 Surveillance Tech Export and Human Rights Law | ROOM 2300
In September 2016, the European Commission proposed a major overhaul of the EU’s export controls for so-called dual-use items that can be misused for severe human rights violations. The proposed amendments extend the existing definition of dual-use items, to include “cyber-surveillance” technologies which can be used to violate fundamental human rights such as the right to privacy and the protection of personal data, freedom of expression, as well as, freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention. For years, there’s been several reports showing that repressive regimes around the world are relying on technology produced by companies based in the EU, US and Canada to target dissidents and human rights defenders. The software being sold have a very broad reach and enable authoritarian governments to spy on their citizens. This session will see civil society representatives and human rights lawyers discuss the surveillance tech export issue, the best possible approaches to be adopted and how human rights law, at various levels, can be used to hold the companies and states accountable.

Moderator: Lucie Krahulcova, AccessNow
Speakers:
Joshua Franco, Amnesty International and Coalition Against Unlawful Surveillance Exports
Renata Avila, World Wide Web Foundation and Courage Foundation
Walter van Holst,
Vrijschrift
Ellen Desmet, UGent and HRI Network

15:30-16:00 Coffee break

16:00-17:30 Closing session: Interactive game | ROOM 2200
We took a classic and made it ours – join us for a jeopardy inspired surveillance quiz! We’ve taken facts and figures, snippets from movies and shows and composed what we hope will be a fun and challenging way for us all to end the day. Do you know where the boundaries between fact and fiction lie anymore? Come test out your knowledge in a mildly competitive environment – we might even let you choose teams. Special sound-effects included. Do you accept our challenge?