From legal obligation to practice: making Fundamental Rights Impact Assessments work.

  • Panel
  • Maritime
  • Thursday 21.05 — 10:30 - 11:45

Organising Institution

Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (Dutch DPA)

Netherlands

The Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP) is the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA). The Dutch Data Protection Authority is the independent regulator in the Netherlands that supervises the processing of personal data. The tasks and powers of the Dutch DPA follow from the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Dutch Implementation Act of the GDPR, the Police Data Act, the Judicial Information and Criminal Records Act, the Electoral Act, and the Personal Records Database Act. The AP is also the national coordinating supervisor on algorithms and AI to contribute to more responsible use of of AI and algorithms in The Netherlands and is preparing for joint oversight on the AI Act.
  • Academic 2
  • Business 2
  • Policy 2
Fundamental Rights Impact Assessments (FRIAs) are emerging as a key tool for embedding fundamental rights protection for its people in EU’s digital governance. At the same time, the implementation efforts of new legal obligations in this regard raise pressing questions related to operationality across sectors and regulatory frameworks in the EU and in relation to EU’s ambition for AI innovation and competitiveness in a global context. This panel aims to share lessons learned from multi-stakeholder cooperation and explore how FRIAs are being operationalized, safeguarding people’s rights effectively, while also being an indispensable tool for EU’s AI innovation and competitiveness efforts.

Questions to be answered

  1. How can FRIA’s be a tool for AI innovation and global competiveness of the EU?
  2. How can FRIA’s be effectively operationalized across sectors and regulatory frameworks (e.g. AI Act, GDPR)?
  3. What lessons emerge from cooperation on FRIA between regulators/market surveillance authorities, industry, researchers and civil society?
  4. What would a meaningful, transparent and participatory FRIA process look like in practice?

Moderator

Berna Keskindemir

Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (Dutch DPA) - Netherlands

Berna (she/her) is a Senior Advisor on fundamental rights (impacts) in the context of AI and algorithms at the Department for the Coordination of Algorithmic Oversight (DCA) at the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP). She also leads DCA’s efforts in relation to the FRIA as part of the preparation for oversight on the AI Act in the Netherlands.

Speaker

David Reichel

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) - Europe

Dr David REICHEL is the Head of the Data and Digital Sector at the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). The Data and Digital Sector, within the Justice, Digital and Migration Unit, hosts most of FRA’s work on artificial intelligence (AI), data protection and online content moderation. David coordinated and co-authored several FRA reports on AI, including the reports on AI and fundamental rights, Getting the future right and Bias in algorithms, as well as on Online content moderation. Prior to joining FRA in 2014, he worked for the research department of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD). He has been teaching for several years at the University of Vienna and other universities. He has published numerous articles, working papers and book chapters on issues related to migration statistics, citizenship and human rights.

Speaker

Karolina Iwańska

European Center for Not-for-profit Law (ECNL) - Netherlands

Karolina (she/her) is a Senior Legal Advisor - Digital. She joined ECNL in 2022 and is responsible for furthering ECNL's digital rights programme. In particular, Karolina leads ECNL’s EU advocacy (with a focus on the Artificial Intelligence Act and Digital Services Act) and leads on developing ECNL AI Learning Center. She is also involved in research and policy analysis at the intersection of surveillance and technology and supports ECNL’s development in the area of strategic litigation through participation in Digital Freedom Fund’s AI & Digital Infrastructure Hub and the STARLIGHT 2.0 strategic litigation training programme. Prior to joining ECNL, Karolina worked as a lawyer and policy analyst at the Warsaw-based digital rights organisation Panoptykon Foundation. In 2019/2020 she was a Mozilla EU Tech Policy Fellow researching privacy-friendly online advertising. In her personal capacity, she is also a Board Member of European Digital Rights. She holds a master’s degree in Law from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland.

Speaker

Harshvardhan Pandit

Trinity College Dublin - Ireland

Harshvardhan Pandit is a Research Fellow at the AI Accountability Lab (AIAL) in Trinity College Dublin. His research aims to understand the complexities that occur at the intersection of law (data acquis e.g. GDPR, AI Act), rights (privacy, data protection, consumer protection), and knowledge modelling (ontologies, taxonomies). His PhD (Computer Science, Trinity College Dublin) explored the application of linked data and semantic web technologies towards GDPR compliance, with a particular focus on consent and provenance. He is a member of National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) and works on standardisation within the CEN/CENELEC (EU) and ISO subgroups on privacy and AI. He chairs the W3C Data Privacy Vocabularies and Controls Community Group (DPVCG) – which develops Data Privacy Vocabularies (DPV) for legal and practical applications. He is the co-editor of the ISO/IEC 27560 PII processing records standard, a nominated technical expert by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), and a PI in the RECIALS Horizon project and the HARNESS Doctoral Network.