Making sense of our connected world
Why data protection doesn’t protect data, but people
This article explains why “data protection” is something of a misnomer, and why the main responsibility for making it work doesn’t rest with users alone.
Between accusations of censorship and platform power: What the Digital Services Act actually regulates
The DSA is increasingly attacked as “censorship law”. This article argues: Its core purpose is to protect freedom of expression online.
Tick-box democracy: What a polling booth reveals about our personal beliefs
We invited Berliners to share their feelings and opinions about democracy in Germany. Find the results here.
Algorithms under scrunity: AI observatories as democratic infrastructure
Algorithms have a profound impact on people’s lives. This article explores why AI observatories are essential for democratic governance.
The bot that bit back: AI agents, defamation and the digital construction of identity
A real case of an AI agent publishing a smear piece raises new legal questions about responsibility and digital identity.
The Human in the Loop in automated credit lending – Human expertise for greater fairness
How fair is automated credit lending? Where is human expertise essential?
Surveillance
The state monitors its citizens, Internet companies monitor their users – and finally we monitor ourselves and each other. Who is monitoring whom and why? What positive effects can surveillance have and when does it become a danger for a democratic society? Questions like these were posed by students of the Humboldt University of Berlin in the seminar “Tracing Surveillance – On the Trace of Surveillance” led by HIIG researcher Thomas Christian Bächle. In the contributions to this dossier they discuss their views on state and economic power and surveillance technologies.
How COVID-19 impacts digital technologies
The current lockdown is boosting online activity – everything is increasingly shifting to the digital sphere. In this dossier we ask if, how and why the Corona pandemic will affect key subjects of digital technologies. What does this mean for the regulation of content on digital platforms? How is Covid-19 activating the digital society? How does it transform our online culture? How safe are tracing apps? What lessons can be learned regarding cyber security? Busy times for our researchers!
