XIXth Interdisciplinary Workshop “Privacy, Data Protection & Surveillance”
The Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society kindly invites for the 19th interdisciplinary workshop “Privacy, Data Protection & Surveillance”, which will take place on July 22, 2025 from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Institute’s premises, Französische Straße 9, 10117 Berlin. You should understand German, but are very welcome to give your presentation in English.
XIXth INTERDISCIPLINARY WORKSHOP ”PRIVACY, DATA PROTECTION & SURVEILLANCE”
22.07.2025 | 12:00 – 18:00
Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society
Französische Straße 9, 10117 Berlin
With this workshop, we want to offer particularly young researchers the opportunity to present and discuss current research work from the very broad and diverse research field of privacy, surveillance, and data protection in an interdisciplinary environment. We welcome article and dissertation projects, theoretical and empirical work, analyses as well as proposed solutions from all disciplines – and it may explicitly be work in progress. In addition to the discussion of open research questions, the workshop will particularly focus on the critical reflection of the participants’ own research premises, school(s) of thought, and discipline(s).
Transparency is considered a central principle in the privacy, surveillance and data protection research field and practice, promising greater accountability of data controllers and empowerment of data subjects. Research and policy efforts have sought to implement transparency through mechanisms such as notices, data access rights, and algorithmic disclosures. However, challenges remain: transparency often fails to translate into meaningful understanding or control for individuals, particularly when disclosures are overly complex, vague, or technically inaccessible. Open questions persist around the recipients’ side – what information is truly comprehensible, how it affects user behavior, and whether individuals are realistically able to act on it. Transparency also intersects with related concepts like explainability (understanding system logic), contestability (challenging decisions), and intervenability (modifying systems, processes or outcomes), both within and beyond what’s addressed by privacy, surveillance and data protection researchers. To what extent does transparency shift actual power to individuals, or does it risk reinforcing a false sense – as well as the burden – of control? What does transparency mean at the collective level, e.g., for communities, advocacy groups, or democratic institutions? What metrics or criteria should be used to evaluate the effectiveness of transparency in practice? What design principles or standards can guide the creation of actionable, user-centered transparency tools? Is transparency a prerequisite for contestability and intervenability, or can intervention rights exist without full transparency?
Participation
If you are interested in attending the event, please fill in our registration form at the bottom of this page by Monday, June 30, 2025 at the latest, indicating whether you would like to attend as a listener or as a speaker. Speakers are asked to provide a title and an extended abstract (500–800 words) of the presentation, which should last max. 15 minutes. You are also welcome to provide information about your disciplines, areas of interest, and research interests. Within the general topic, you are completely free to choose your subject and to set a focus for your presentation, even beyond our proposed focus.
The workshop program will be sent to all registered participants by July 15, 2025.
We are very much looking forward to your participation and contribution.
Important dates
| June 30, 2025 | Registration deadline |
| June 30, 2025 | Deadline for the submission of abstracts |
| July 8, 2025 | Notification to submitters |
| July 15, 2025 | Workshop program |
| July 22, 2025 | Workshop |
Unfortunately, we cannot reimburse travel or accommodation expenses.
If you have any questions, please contact: joerg.pohle@hiig.de
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