Paddy Leerssen won the UvA Law Faculty Prize for Best Publication 2020-2021. His winning article ‘The Soap Box as a Black Box’ examines the regulation of transparency in social media recommender systems in Europe. Taking a sociotechnical perspective on recommender systems, this article points to the limitations of disclosures about their algorithms, and argues for …
Paddy Leerssen wins Faculty Prize for Best Publication Read More »
Large tech companies like Google and Facebook have significant power in the digital media landscapes of countries around the world, and it can sometimes be hard to imagine what online life would be like without them. This article is a contribution from the participants on a panel organised by the Amsterdam-based AI, Media and Democracy Lab which …
What if Google and Facebook decided to leave your country? Read More »
Theresa Seipp wrote an opinion piece on news media’s dependency on big tech. In this op-ed she explains the lessons Europe should learn from Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code and Facebook’s reaction to it, but also why Europe needs to act to break up the dependency and facilitate media independence, innovation and funding. Read the …
Opinion piece on news media’s dependency on big tech by Theresa Seipp Read More »
Marijn’s article on manipulation and for-profit health apps has been published in Ethics and Information Technology. In the article, Marijn provides a working definition of manipulation and evaluates key characteristics of the digital health environments that for-profit health apps provide to their users. Although most health apps promise to empower their users, Marijn concludes that …
The PERSONEWS project, funded by the European Research Council, is one of the first to examine, in depth, the impact of algorithmic news recommendations for both users and news media providers. It is shedding important light on how much we should really be concerned and what safeguards and innovations we can put in place to …
Team members Joanna Strycharz, Jef Ausloos and Natali Helberger recently published a new paper titled: Data Protection or Data Frustration? Individual perceptions and attitudes towards the GDPR. The paper examines individual reactions to the GDPR in order to provide insights into user agency in relation to the Regulation. More specifically, it discusses empirical data (survey …
New article by ICDS researchers on perceptions towards GDPR Read More »
“Surveillance is permanent in its effects, even if it is discontinuous in its action.” – Michel Foucault In a letter last week, over 55 scientists and experts (and counting), including Natali Helberger and Claes de Vreese, expressed their concerns about the Corona apps to the Dutch government. In their letter, they urge the government …
Experts: “Apps have an impact on more than (data) privacy alone” Read More »
Door Natali Helberger¹ & Claes de Vreese² Tijdens de persconferentie afgelopen dinsdag kondigde Minister De Jonge aan dat een centraal element van de exitstrategie om uit de ‘intelligente lockdown’ te komen uit twee apps gaat bestaan. Eén app die waarschuwt indien je in de buurt bent gekomen van mensen besmet met het COVID-19 virus en een …