PhD research TILT

Research topic

The construction and change of moral and public values (i.e., technomoral change), with a specific focus on safeguarding public values in local governments

Supervisors

• Prof. dr. Esther Keymolen
• Prof. dr. Joris van Hoboken
• Dr. Gert Meyers

Research description

The use of data-driven technologies has become increasingly popular under local, governmental institutions. The implementation of these technological innovations has raised the question how to ensure that core public values (e.g., privacy, transparency, accountability, etc.) can be upheld, for instance by investing in “by design” approaches (e.g., transparency by design) and Responsible Innovation practices. One of the implicit assumptions of these approaches is that what values boil down to is rather stable and that the challenge predominantly lies in the integration of these existing values into new technological practices. In the domain of philosophy of technology and applied ethics, there is however an increasing acceptance of the idea that values are dynamic and susceptible to change. For instance, local governments heavily rely on commercial parties to provide them with data-driven tools and the solutions they offer to adhere to public values. More research is needed to see how key public values take shape in these interactions, if and how value conflicts occur, and how public values in the end can be safeguarded. 

Donovan’s PhD project combines a philosophical-ethical study of technology-induced value change (i.e., ‘technomoral change’) with an empirically informed evaluation of value change within Dutch local, governmental institutions. The project carries out two case-studies which will explore, through participant observations and organizing semi-structured interviews with experts & stakeholders within Dutch local governments (e.g., municipalities), how values are perceived, protected and undergo change.

The project is part of AlgoSoc, a large research consortium in The Netherlands focussed on safeguarding public values in the algorithmic society.

Research topic

Towards effective regulation and oversight of automated decision-making systems (ADS) in the public sector.

Supervisors

• Prof. dr. Johan Wolswinkel
• Dr. Shirley Kempeneer
• Prof. dr. Alber Meijer
• Dr. Roel Dobbe

Research description

The project aims at mapping out how key public values can be embedded in the regulation of ADS use in the public sector by drawing on various disciplines and their approaches, including inter alia law, sociology, public administration, and design sciences. This encumbers determining the institutional and legislative framework to identify norm-setters, norm-enforcers, power structures, and the reasoning behind current legislative approaches. 

Subsequent to establishing this foundational groundwork, the research methodology will pivot towards a qualitative inquiry consisting of semi-structured interviews with pertinent stakeholders. More specifically, the interviews will include individuals already identified as norm-setters and -enforcers, alongside groups or actors who should arguably fall within those categories owing to their engagement with, or impact from, ADS in the public sector. 

The goal is to find common ground in regard to the values that ought to be represented in regulatory initiatives by boosting more (democratically) legitimate processes within this domain, and to find a shared vocabulary among these various stakeholders. Here, inspiration will be drawn from (Techno-)Feminism and Intersectionality to better understand the realities of minority group stakeholders who run the risk of being negatively affected by ADM decisions as well as to display inherent power dynamics in the conception and application of public values. Lastly, the findings will cumulatively inform the final part in which regulatory solutions will be offered by taking a Design Science approach.

Research topic

Exploring the Impact of Automated Decision-Making Systems on Migration and Asylum Management in Europe

Supervisors

• Prof. Dr. Linnet Taylor
• Dr. Viola Bex-Reimert

Research description

Migration regimes within the Global North, particularly in European countries are deeply entwined with historical inequalities stemming from colonial legacies. These regimes, shaped by political administrations, perpetuate systemic injustices against migrants, especially those from formerly colonized nations. Institutionalized infrastructures and legal frameworks restrict movement, curtail legal identity, and undermine political representation. Moreover, migrants are stigmatized as security risks or illegal, reinforcing colonial, racial, patriarchal, and exploitative practices. The introduction of Automated Decision-Making systems, ostensibly for efficiency and modernization, further entrenches these unjust systems, particularly in migration and asylum management processes. These systems play a significant role in identifying migrants, assessing the credibility of claims, guiding decisions on applications, and conducting risk assessments. This research project aims to investigate the role of these systems in the migration and asylum management within the European Union (EU), with a specific focus on the Netherlands and Germany. 

Through an qualitative approach encompassing participant observation, interviews, and document analysis, the study will delve into the migration regimes of the Netherlands and Germany. The research will involve visits to technology and border control conferences, reception centers, and migration authorities to capture the effects of ADS on the migration and asylum context within the EU. Specifically, the project seeks to understand how the implementation of ADS in European asylum and migration management processes reproduces or transforms historical systemic violence against migrants from postcolonial contexts. The research objectives include examining the implementation of these systems, the discourses to promote them, the changes in the bureaucratic practices, and evaluating their legal implications for global social justice.

• Tynke Schepers
• Charmian Lim 
• Shazade Jameson 
• Maria Schulz
• Hellen Smith- Mukiri 
• Arnout Terpstra 

Research topic

The scope for EU competition law to target data-driven harms that stem from accumulation and use of health data by big tech firms

Supervisors

• Prof. dr. Giorgio Monti
• Dr. Colette Cuijpers

Research description

In the recent years, we have been witnessing a growing presence of large consumer technology corporations like Amazon, Apple, Google or Microsoft (the so-called big tech firms) in domains of particular societal relevance, including healthcare. Increasingly, these firms are seen as responding to challenges faced by health systems globally by providing their digital, data-driven products and services to healthcare providers, insurers, and consumers. Against this background, issues have arisen as regards the capability of big tech firms to amass, analyse, and apply the swaths of (health) data for data-driven innovation, entrenching and further leveraging their data-related power in the health domain. Such developments pose problems not only for the functioning of the (concentrated) data-driven markets, but can also lead to significant ethical, policy, and social concerns for patients and populations at large. Therefore, by leaning into the capacity of competition law to constrain corporate power and address market conduct that can harm consumers directly, the research project aims to develop an argument for taking more explicitly into account health-related norms and values in competition assessments and enforcement, specifically in cases where economic logic reaches beyond the boundaries of ‘the market’. Integrating insights from scholarship on health policy, bioethics, and critical data and platform studies with antitrust literature, this research thus strives to inform the doctrine and application of EU competition law by advancing a ‘less economic’ approach.

The project is part of the Digital Legal Studies research collaboration, funded through the Law Sector Plan of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science (OCW).

Research topic

Start-Up Acquisitions and Competition Policy in the EU: A Comprehensive Analysis

Supervisors

• Prof. dr. Giorgio Monti
• Dr. Friso Bostoen

Research description

Over the past few years, major incumbents have been acquiring numerous start-ups, which have been flying under the radar of competition authorities due to their inability to trigger review thresholds. This uptick in acquisitions has raised several competition-related concerns, with ‘killer acquisitions’ emerging as a focal point in discussions among academics and policy makers, which is largely influenced by Cunningham et al.’s seminal work. As part of this phenomenon, incumbents have been observed to discontinue acquired projects strategically, with the sole objective of forestalling future competition. Empirical evidence to its existence has predominantly surfaced within the pharmaceutical industry. Within the digital sector, however, empirical evidence rather indicates the presence of ‘kill zones,’ wherein investors become disincentivised to invest in nascent start-ups. 

Overall, these trends have sparked concerns over the limitations of the current merger control framework in effectively addressing acquisitions of undertakings whose turnover inadequately reflects their competitive potential. Yet it is important to note in this debate that start-ups are often credited as the primary drivers of innovation in the market, with acquisitions playing a role in fostering their incentive to innovate. Considering these developments, the project aims to establish a comprehensive framework on how to assert jurisdiction over start-up acquisitions, their impact on innovation competition and establishing effective remedies. This framework will be situated within the broader discussion on the aims of competition law.

Research topic

The EU regulatory framework’s ability to facilitate a System-of-systems (SoS) approach to infrastructure management for pursuing the green transition.

Supervisors

• Prof. dr. Saskia Lavrijssen
• Prof. dr.ir. Wendy van der Valk (TiSEM)
• Dr. Inge Graef (TILT)

Research description

As climate change becomes more of an existential threat, the European Union (EU) is pushing for its Member States to shift their economies, and infrastructure systems that serve these economies, to become more environmentally friendly and sustainable, and ultimately transition into climate neutral economies by 2050. Part of this green transition is the integration of European energy system and the creation of a circular economy. This will require independent infrastructure operators, who have thus far operated in silos, to collaborate and integrate with other operators and systems under an overarching system in the pursuit of a common goal, i.e. adopt a System-of-Systems (SoS) approach to infrastructure management. 

The current legal frameworks which govern infrastructure systems in the EU and its Member States, function on the basis that infrastructure networks operate as silos and use traditional market models. Thus, each sector is governed by different legal regimes and rules. Operators will require guidance from policy makers and the regulatory framework on how to pursue system integration and the economic transition while reconciling the different sectoral obligations and restrictions under law. This research investigates to what extent the current European legal framework not only allows for the creation of integrated infrastructure systems, but also the extent to which it provides guidance to infrastructure operators when adopting a Systems- of-systems approach for the purpose of pursuing the green transition and future-proof infrastructure systems. 

This research is part of the NWO funded project ‘Via Augusta’, which was commissioned to study the potential for coordinated infrastructure governance among Dutch Infrastructure operators using a SoS approach to infrastructure management.

• Lisa van Dongen
• Léo Gargne
• Laura Kaschny
• Paul Halliday 
• Laurens Gijsbers 
• Patrick McCutheon 
• Maryam Pourrahim 
• Pierguiseppe Pusceddu 
• Zuno Verghese 

Research topic

Investigative Genetic Genealogy in Europe: Ethical and Legal Challenges Ahead

Supervisors

• Prof. dr. Eleni Kosta
• Prof. dr. Paul de Hert
• Dr. Marco Bassini

Research description

DNA has been used as powerful evidence in criminal justice for decades. To benefit from this source of evidence, law enforcement authorities maintain national forensic DNA databases in which they store DNA profiles extracted from people who somehow found themselves in criminal investigations. Due to the invasive nature of DNA retention on the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals concerned, national legislation in Europe provides specific laws to regulate DNA retention and national forensic DNA databases. In the last two decades, these laws have been scrutinized by the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union, which eventually formulated the legal restraints attached to these practices in Europe. However, a recent ground-breaking advancement in criminal investigations, Investigative Genetic Genealogy, may pose significant challenges to this well-established set of legal requirements. Since the arrest of the Golden State Killer, it was reported that investigators in the United States and beyond have benefited from this novel technique to solve hundreds of (cold) cases. Unsurprisingly, this practice did not take long to be tested on the other side of the Atlantic. While the Swedish law enforcement authority became the first in Europe to experiment with investigative genetic genealogy in 2019, Dutch law enforcement has recently been green-lighted for a pilot project to test this new technique, and others are expected to follow the same path soon. In light of these developments, this project examines whether and to what extent these searches are allowed under the EU data protection law framework and what could be done to ensure their legality and legitimacy.

Research topic

Creating a model conceptual framework for complex multi-stakeholder environments: data exchanges within Public-Private Partnerships in the EU Anti Money-Laundering/Counter Financing of Terrorism regime.

Supervisors

• Prof. dr. Eleni Kosta
• Dr. Bart van der Sloot
• Dr. Bryce Clayton Newell

Research description

The AML field is one of the most complex ones in modern EU legislation and in an attempt to enhance the situation, the European Commission has recently presented a new legislative package, in which it is anticipated that PPPs will play a serious role in the new AML regime. To cooperate effectively, it is expected that entities participating in PPPs will exchange data. Concerning data sharing within the AML/CFT field, PPPs problematize the existing legal approach for four reasons:

(a) Actors: Sharing of personal data within the AML field is governed by different legal instruments. Numerous different actors (and legal competences) in a PPP will perplex the situation.

(b) Jurisdictions: PPPs are comprised of entities based in different areas and there is currently no clear legal regime on such cross-border data sharing within PPPs in the EU.

(c) Legal basis of processing: As both private and public parties participate in PPPs (for example a commercial bank and a law enforcement authority), they have different legitimate grounds and purposes of processing.

(d) High volume & several types of data (incl. sensitive data) are exchanged within PPPs in the AML field, and this might produce further data-related problems.

Since there are different actors, from different jurisdictions, which exchange several types of data, each actor having a different purpose and thus, a different legal basis, it is very possible that a mayhem may be created, when it comes to sharing of personal data within PPPs in the AML field. For its solution, there is currently no specific regulatory framework, leaving all this situation in an uncertainty, that may further be increased upon establishment of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority, which will be the centralized European authority to coordinate all national anti-money laundering authorities. It is important to solve the problem in its making, before a new negative status quo is created

Research topic

Cognitive Freedom in the context of Human Rights protection against manipulation of Free Thought by Artificial Intelligence

Supervisors

• Prof. dr. Paul de Hert
• Dr. Bart van der Sloot 

Research description

The Orwellian dystopian concept of ‘Thoughtcrime’, illustrated as an exaggerated form of state control and destruction of personal liberty, has become a fast-approaching reality with increasing advancements in Artificial Intelligence and the popularity of manipulative algorithms. The issue that this research seeks to address is the violation of one of the triumvirates of absolute rights, namely Freedom of Thought, by way of obstructing natural cognitive reasoning with AI-designed thought manipulation. Tracking online user activity to create a landscape of the ‘forum internum’ and the utilization of this profiling to extrapolate personal vulnerabilities for the facilitation of cognitive manipulation has colossal consequential effects on our cardinal conceptualization of normative agency, democracy, and liberty.

This research techno-progressively investigates the Human Rights protections intended to save natural persons against the breach of the absolute right to think freely. The understanding of the Freedom of Thought and for it being breached through cognitive hacking, the abstractness of the forum internum, and the resultant intersectional dimension of the manipulation that may occur which poses an unprecedented assault on most if not all fundamental rights.

• Ana-Maria Hriscu 
• Manos Roussos 
• Suzanne Nusselder 
• Shweta Degalahal 
• Pratham Ajmera 
• Lisa Rooij 
• Alexandra Ziaka
• Tom Chokrevski 
• Keyomars Khaleghi 
• Ivan Skorvánek