This panel delves into the essence and core purpose of data protection, emphasising the fundamental values and societal interests these laws serve to protect while also reflecting on how they can be defended in the face of modern challenges. Inadequate data protection may gradually erode democracy and social cohesion, especially in the age of AI and other data-hungry technologies. Privacy and data protection laws are means and an end in itself. They are instruments designed, among other things, to give individuals control over their data, protect their fundamental rights, and empower them in an increasingly data-driven world.
Why should we care about data transfers, targeted advertising, abuse of sensitive data, or automated decision-making? How can data protection protect individuals and society? How do we define the harm when even recent decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) highlight the difficulties in quantifying damage when privacy is breached? While exploring these questions, the panel will remind us what the essence of data protection law is and why it is still relevant in a world of data-driven technologies.
Moderator: Romain Robert, Legal Officer, Policy and Consultation Unit, EDPS
Speakers:
- Evgueni Boev, Senior Legal Advisor, European Court of Human Rights
- Itxaso Domínguez de Olazábal, Policy Advisor, EDRi
- Gloria González Fuster, Research professor and director of the Law, Science, Technology & Society (LSTS), Vrije Universiteit Brussels
- Nathalie Laneret, Vice-president of Government Affairs and Public Policy, Criteo
- Max Schrems, Honorary Chair, noyb – European Centre for Digital Rights