Ban vs. Regulation, that is the spyware question.

  • Panel
  • Café
  • Wednesday 20.05 — 14:15 - 15:30

Organising Institution

Data Rights

Europe

Data Rights is an EU-wide non-profit. We work to build an internet free from digital arms races and monopolistic control. We reject surveillance as a business model. We believe in liberating creative self-determination from the pursuit of power over people and resources. Another model for the internet is possible. A model where people own their data rights, know how their information is used, and can demand accountability. Data Rights strives to improve lives is a culture of responsibility, respect for others, and care for the planet.
  • Academic 3
  • Policy 3
This panel brings litigators, researchers and legislators at the table to discuss the future of spyware regulation. Since the Pegasus scandal, the policy position has been to call for a general ban on spyware. With little progress. Meanwhile, in Europe the situation has worsened. The work of the PEGA Coalition being rooted in litigation, it has to enter into detailed conversations about the technology and its long term stakes on society. Coalition members, as well as researchers and legislators, have now had time to mature where they see absolute red lines, and where nuance is possible. This panel aims to tackle the uncomfortable reality of spyware regulation, where regulatory blockade is a status quo only beneficial to a dubious industry. An industry that consistently fails the test of adequacy to fundamental rights and democratic values.

Questions to be answered

  1. Is the ban on spyware obtainable?
  2. What are the red lines spyware regulation must not cross?
  3. Can the EU regulate?
  4. Should the EU regulate?

Moderator

Lori Roussey

Data Rights - Founding member of the PEGA Coalition - Europe

Lori Roussey is a data protection law and policy specialist. She focuses on new technologies regulation. Lori has experience as the Data Protection Officer of a major humanitarian organisation and is now the Founder and Director of Data Rights, a litigation and advocacy non-profit focused on surveillance, sustainability, and interoperability.

Speaker

Luigi Malferari

European Commission - Europe

Luigi is a member of the Legal Service of the European Commission in Brussels, working inter alia in the fields of free movement, public procurement, political advertising, media, fundamental rights and values.

Speaker

Sophie in t' Veld

Former MEP - Europe

Sophie is a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and was the PEGA Committee rapporteur, leading the Parliament's research into spyware.

Speaker

Celia Carbonell

Iridia - Center of Defense of Human Rights (founding member of the PEGA coalition) - Spain

Celia is a human rights professional with international experience in advocacy, communications and the protection of civic space. She specialises in surveillance and spyware. She has worked at Irídia, Addameer and Open Arms.

Speaker

Ádám Ramport

Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU)

Ádám Remport is a Hungarian jurist from Budapest and a legal expert working at the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) since September 2018. Ádám coordinates the HCLU’s litigation in the Pegasus case, where the organisation represents seven clients. His work in privacy and data protection also concerns monitoring the government’s use of facial recognition technologies and combating illegal data processing by the government, e.g., the unlawful handling of voters’ data by parties and the state.