Conference on Data Ethics and Governance: Unravelling the Complexities of Privacy, Fairness, and Access in the Digital Age

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2024, the final year of the LeADS project, kickstarted with an intensive three-day meeting packed with a wide variety of LeADS activities. Organized by the LeADS consortium, the activities took place in Brussels on the campus by LeADS beneficiary VUB.

During this packed three days, three distinct events took place, amongst them the Conference on Data Ethics and Governance: Unravelling the Complexities of Privacy, Fairness, and Access in the Digital Age.

During two separate sessions, ESRs presented their Working Papers which they have been writing in 2023. Each presentation was followed by a discussion with distinguished academics.

The first panel on ‘Challenges and Opportunities in Fair Machine Learning, Data Access, and Governance was initiated with opening remarks by Prof. Giovanni Comande’. The following three working papers were presented (i) The Flawed Foundations of Fair Machine Learning (ii) Measuring Data Access and Re-Use in the European Legal Framework (iii) Data Collaboratives with the Use of Decentralised Learning. The working papers were subsequently discussed by Dr Laura Drechsler (KU Leuven), Dr. Katarzyna Poludniak, Jagiellonian University, and Prof. Gabriele Lenzini, University of Luxemburg.

The second panel on ‘Data Privacy, Minimization, and Governance in Personal (and Sensitive) Data’ was chaired by Prof. Gianclaudio Malgieri (Leiden University) and consisted of the presentation of the following Working Papers: (i) Contribution to data minimisation for personal data and trade secrets (ii) Transparency and relevancy of direct-to-consumer genetic testing privacy & consent policies in EU (iii) From Data Governance by Design to Data Governance as a Service.

In a following Q&A session, Prof. Elwira Macierzyńska-Franaszczyk (Jagiellonian University), Dr Arianna (Rossi, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna), and Dr Afonso Ferreira (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) further discussed, challenged, and contextualized the work by our ESRs.

Learning Through Playing: LeADS Discussion Games

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2024, the final year of the LeADS project, kickstarted with an intensive three-day meeting packed with a wide variety of LeADS activities. Organized by the LeADS consortium, the activities took place in Brussels on the campus by LeADS beneficiary VUB.  The first day of the LeADS meeting kicked off with a playtesting session on discussion games which the ESRs have been developing during the last quarter of 2023.

The ambition of the LeADS project has always been that the dissemination and communication of its results are not only a concern for a highly specialized audience, such as academics and practitioners. Instead, we think that our results are highly relevant and should also be communicated to the general public.

The discussion games thus constitute one of many means of the LeADS project to achieve a wider dissemination of the research of our ESRs to a wider public. Four discussion games, one per crossroad, have been developed and were play-tested for the first time with external participants (students and other researchers from VUB). All game materials for each boardgame are publicly available on Zenodo (see below)

In Crossroad 1’s boardgame ‘Know-IT-All’, players have to answer questions in six categories (Data as a Commodity, Privacy, Curiosity, Intellectual Property, AI, Big Tech) in order to progress through the game board and collect points.

In Crossroad 2’s boardgame ‘Jury Trials’, a role-playing game designed for people with a background in law and data privacy. The context of the game is around defending a company’s public image against attackers who try to destroy its reputation in a specific scenario case.

In Crossroad 3’s boardgame, ‘SynergyLegal: Legal and Technical Challenges around Data Rights’, players have to solve challenges that are connected to the broad topic of data ownership.

In Crossroad 4’s boardgame, ‘Privacylandia’, players take the role of inhabitants of a fictional town. Each player needs to collaborate with at least another player and use his/her knowledge in legal and technological domains to solve challenges that data subjects may face in real life.

European Researchers’ Night in Athens

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ESRs Fatma S. Doğan, Armend Duzha and Christos Magkos along with Manolis Alexakis attended the event organized within European Researchers’ Night on 29 September 2023 in Athens. The team welcomed visitors of all ages into their booth and presented details about the LeADS project. Given the project’s focus on the intersection of law and technology, explanatory sheets facilitated the conceptualization of these concepts. The majority of visitors expressed interest in AI developments, making the AI Act the central topic of most conversations. High school students were also intrigued by the backgrounds of the ESRs; the diversity of disciplines represented by the three ESRs captured their attention about potential future careers.

ESRs also had the opportunity to observe the scientific fair, where researchers from various fields presented their projects, proving to be inspiring. The connection with CERN labs stood out as a prominent example. The program provided a valuable chance for ESRs to engage with other researchers.

ESRs Soumia Zohra El Mestari & Fatma Sümeyra Doğan new publication

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ESRs Soumia Zohra El Mestari and Fatma Sümeyra Doğan, along with Dr Marietjie Botes, have recently published a paper at the Privacy Symposium: Data Protection Law International Convergence and Compliance with Innovative Technologies proceedings that delve into the technical and legal aspects related to the reuse of health data when repurposing machine learning models in the EU. The paper titled “Technical and Legal Aspects Relating to the (Re)Use of Health Data When Repurposing Machine Learning Models in the EU” not only examines the impact of machine learning technologies but also focuses on specific concepts, such as “knowledge transfer,” and assesses their potential implications within the context of emerging EU legislation, including the Data Governance Act and EHDS proposal.

The objective of the research is to provide insights into the use of machine learning models in the healthcare sector, particularly in light of the increasing volume of healthcare data being generated. The paper highlights the challenges and opportunities related to the (re)use of health data, the ethical and legal implications associated with the use of such data and the potential benefits that can be achieved by using machine learning models to analyze healthcare data.

Overall, the paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the technical and legal aspects associated with the (re)use of health data and machine learning models within the EU. The research findings are relevant for policymakers, healthcare providers, and researchers who are interested in the latest developments in the field of machine learning and healthcare data analysis.

The paper can be read here