Risking Fundamental Rights? The Myriad Ways of Risk in EU Law and Policy

  • Panel
  • Orangerie
  • Thursday 22.05 — 11:50 - 13:05

Organising Institution

Fraunhofer ISI

Germany

  • Academic 3
  • Policy 3
Risk has proliferated since the GDPR and is now also found in the DSA and AI Act. While the DSA introduces the notion of systemic risks, the AI Act covers anything from 'self-replicating' AI systems to discrimination of individuals, groups and societies. The panel will touch these more abstract issues and consider the cases of migration and law enforcement to illustrate the implications of these policies, for instance, how framing migration as a "risk" can affect human rights. Broadening the scope, we discuss the role of standardisation as well as how policy and political narratives of risk-based approaches can be code for deregulatory agendas. Internal risk classifications can obscure broader questions of risk to a fundamental rights-based EU legal and political order in a changing geo-political landscape. With this inflation of risk, our panel will engage the following questions:

Questions to be answered

  1. How is risk regulated and what role does standardization play?
  2. How does risk affect securitisation trends in migration policies, the development and deployment of tech used in border and does this overshadow the systemic risks faced by vulnerable populations?
  3. How do risk assessment and profiling in predictive policing contexts affect individuals?
  4. What does a shift towards 'risk' based language mean for fundamental rights in EU data law and what risks are posed by current geo-political circumstances?

Moderator

Felix Bieker

ULD - Germany

Dr. Felix Bieker is researcher at ULD, the data protection authority of Schleswig-Holstein, and works on structural aspects of data processing, platforms, power and progressive approaches to data protection. Felix wrote a book called "The Right to Data Protection: Individual and Structural Dimensions of Data Protection in EU Law" and co-edited a special issue of Internet Policy Review on feminist data protection.

Speaker

Katherine Nolan

Technological University Dublin - Ireland

Dr Katherine Nolan is an Assistant Lecturer in Law at Technological University Dublin, Ireland. Her research focuses on digital governance, data protection law and fundamental rights in EU law. She holds a Bachelor of Business and Law from University College Dublin, a B.C.L. from the University of Oxford, an LL.M. from the University of California, Berkeley and a PhD from the London School of Economics. She is also a qualified solicitor in Ireland.

Speaker

Irmak Erdoğan Peter

Center for IT & IP Law (CiTiP) - Belgium

Irmak Erdoğan is a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for IT & IP Law, where she conducts research under the CIF Project and leads the legal aspects of the Starlight Project. She earned her doctorate in law from Galatasaray University in 2022, specializing in criminal law, data protection, and the impact of AI on criminal justice. During her PhD, she conducted research at the University of Florence (Dec 2019 – Mar 2020) and was a Swiss Government Excellence Scholar at the University of Basel (Oct 2020 – Sep 2021). Prior to her academic career, she was a licensed lawyer in Istanbul, focusing on media, criminal, and human rights law.

Speaker

Aljosa Ajanovic Andelic

European Digital Rights (EDRi) - Europe

Aljosa Ajanovic Andelic is a Policy Advisor at European Digital Rights (EDRi), where he covers issues related to illegal state surveillance like spyware, journalists' digital rights, and the effects of techno-solutionist and securitisation policies on minoritised communities and people on the move.

Speaker

Isabel Barberá

Rhite - Netherlands

Isabel Barberá is an AI advisor and researcher at Rhite. With a background in computational linguistics, computer science, and law, and over 20 years of experience in software development, AI/ML, cybersecurity, and privacy, she brings a unique combination of technical and legal expertise. She is a member of ENISA’s Ad Hoc Working Group on Data Protection Engineering and of the EDPB Support Pool of Experts, where she has contributed to multiple AI-related projects. Additionally, she serves as an AI National Expert at CEN/CENELEC, helping develop European AI standards on risk management and cybersecurity. Isabel is also the creator of the open source tool for AI risk identification PLOT4AI, and the author of several publications on AI risk management.