Sector Plan SSH

Law, privacy and security

What are the consequences of digitalisation for our security and privacy? What risks does the power of major tech companies pose to citizens, employees, organisations, and states? What role should governments and the European Union play in regulating online platforms? How can human rights, legal protection, and equal opportunities be safeguarded in a digital world?

These and other questions are central to the theme 'Law, Privacy and Security', one of the five themes of the SSH Sector Plan cross-cutting theme ‘Welfare, Participation and Citizenship in a Digital World’.

Background

The digital transition offers opportunities, such as finding innovative solutions to societal challenges, increasing the effectiveness of the public sector, and strengthening competitiveness. At the same time, it also raises questions and concerns. Can everyone keep up, or are people being excluded? Does digitalisation lead to growing inequality in our society? To what extent does it change human decision-making and judgment? And what are the effects of digitalisation on our security, the rule of law, democracy, and human and fundamental rights?

In the overarching SSH Sector Plan cross-cutting theme 'Prosperity, Participation and Citizenship in a Digital World', the digital transition takes centre stage. How can we make the best possible use of its opportunities while preventing negative effects? Expertise from the disciplines within the SSH domain is essential. With this sector plan, researchers aim to contribute to responsible digitalisation through innovative research and education. Scholars work closely together across the boundaries of disciplines, faculties, and universities.

In 2022, five key issues were identified. Leiden University is actively participating in the theme 'Law, Privacy and Security', in collaboration with researchers from the Open University and Utrecht University.

Description of the theme

Digitalisation brings major challenges in the field of security, ranging from the level of individual citizens to that of international safety. Citizens are becoming increasingly dependent on platforms and providers in virtually all areas of life: education, work, infrastructure, leisure, news, and politics. Even for online security and privacy, citizens rely on the technical and human investments of these platforms. As citizens, but also as consumers and entrepreneurs, people make use of the services of large tech companies. In doing so, these companies acquire a position of power over individual citizens, schools, entrepreneurs, organisations, and even states, bringing with it significant risks.

Platforms increasingly shape the scope of citizens’ choices; algorithms decide what they get to see. How, in such a situation, can privacy and personal autonomy be safeguarded? How do people live together in a surveillance society? Who ensures that data are kept secure and not misused for advertising or manipulation? What kinds of regulation and oversight are needed to protect citizens and businesses in the digital world and to curb the power of big tech? Can we offer alternatives that are rooted in public values?

The business model of big tech is also attractive to cybercriminal organisations. Whether it concerns hackers paralysing companies or digital interventions from one state against another, security is constantly at stake. This calls for thorough analysis: what, for instance, is the role of government in regulating online platforms and possibly even in offering alternatives? Which laws and measures are required to regulate social media traffic more effectively? How can cooperation between different actors in the security domain and their services be improved through digitalisation? How can digitalisation within government evolve in line with human rights, legal protection, and equal opportunities? And how can people obtain in practice the legal protection that exists on paper?

Source: report ‘Samen vooruit: Investeren in de basis voor wetenschappelijk onderzoek en onderwijs, versterken van de maatschappelijke veerkracht’

Domains

At Leiden University, interdisciplinary collaboration within the theme 'Law, Privacy, and Security' takes place across four domains (sub-themes):

Deepfake in cybercrime
AI is increasingly misused, creating major security risks for citizens, businesses, and societies. The use of AI-based deepfake technology in cybercrime raises legal questions, such as: Which applications of deepfakes may qualify as cybercrime; does existing law sufficiently provide protection against uses of deepfakes; should they be criminalized, and on what grounds?

Legal tech
Digitalization in the legal domain is leading to an increasing use of new technologies, often built on AI and blockchain, in daily legal practice. Developments in legal tech are rapidly changing the work of lawyers, both in practice and in academic research. Which current and emerging legal technologies are most relevant, and how should they be implemented?

European Approaches to Societal Challenges (EASC) Interdisciplinary Hub
Europe faces major societal and governance challenges in the coming decades, including digitalisation. To address these challenges in an effective and sustainable way, national governments and European institutions, as well as European citizens and civil society organisations, will have to make difficult choices, supported by groundbreaking research and innovative education.

More information on the Europe Hub can be found here.

New European Challenges to the Governance of Social Citizenship & Migration
Policymakers are continuously confronted with new challenges that require a critical assessment of laws, policies, and practices. The instrumentalisation of migration, state-sponsored mass migration, raises questions about terrorism, extremism, and heightened fears of migration. In promoting legal labour migration to address labour shortages in member states, concerns arise about the uneven distribution of benefits and side effects such as pressure on the housing market.

Staff

Deepfake in cybercrime

Legal tech

Europe Hub

Migration

Open University