Oskar Josef Gstrein

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• Professor (Associate) at University of Groningen

Analyzed through the lens of the “computerization movement” (CM), the development of revolutionary technologies has consistently followed a recurring trajectory in terms of the origin, momentum, diffusion, and societal impact. Building on the analysis of selected historical trajectories, similar dynamics are discernible for the recent push towards...

Bringing together leading scholars, members of the judiciary, and practitioners, this book provides a cutting-edge, comprehensive, and multifaceted analysis of data retention and the subsequent access of law enforcement authorities to retained electronic communications data. In the aftermath of the invalidated Data Retention Directive, the Court of...

Over the past decades a growing number of countries have offered citizenship or residence in return for a donation or investment. Taking a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of this phenomenon, this open access collection examines its legal, political, and conceptual implications. The volume consists of four parts. The first part documents re...

Despite the lack of consensus on an official definition of Big Data, research and studies have continued to progress based on this “no consensus” stance over the years. However, the lack of a clear definition and scope for Big Data results in scientific research and communication lacking a common ground. Even with the popular “V” characteristics, B...

The ‘smart city’ has been driven by advances in information and communication technologies, with the aim of integrating these technologies with urban infrastructures for improved optimisation, automation and control. Smart cities have emerged as a response to the challenges faced by megacities and are likely to manifest the ‘datafying’ society in t...

This article provides an initial analysis of the EU AI Act's (AIA) approach to regulating general-purpose artificial intelligence (AI) – such as OpenAI's ChatGPT – and argues that it marks a significant shift from reactive to proactive AI governance. While this may alleviate concerns that regulators are constantly lagging behind technological devel...

While modern technologies—for example, in the form of airplanes facilitating international travel—enabled the coronavirus virus to spread rapidly, they were also the foreground in responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, most notably in the rapid development of novel vaccines, as well as smartphone apps used to locate, track and alert individuals to the...

At first glance data protection litigation seems to be a niche topic. Yet, record sum compensation such as those resulting from the Meta – Cambridge Analytica lawsuit (725 million usd ) reveal enormous practical relevance. This proceeding took the form of a class action, brought before a Californian court. Such collective proceedings might sweep ac...

The Digital Services Act (DSA) entered into force in November 2022 and is directly applicable across the European Union since the beginning of 2024. The DSA imposes special rules on very large online platforms (VLOPs) such as TikTok. This study examines the transparency obligations for VLOPs set forth in various articles of the DSA. A scoping revie...

Eine EU-Richtlinie ermöglicht, dass sich viele Geschädigte zu einer kollektiven Klage zusammentun. Das kann besonders bei Verletzung des Datenschutzes sinnvoll sein. Denn bei kleinen Summen tun es sich Einzelne nicht an, den Schaden in einem teuren Prozess zurückzufordern. Link zum Artikel: https://www.diepresse.com/17939941/gemeinsam-gegen-die-gro...

The datafication of society comes with a recalibration of power structures. European states can no longer depend on territorial control to govern (cyber)space, powerful corporations own essential cloud infrastructure, state actors denying the importance of democracy and human rights have crucial roles in supply chains, and users are left without ch...

The datafication of society comes with a recalibration of power structures. European states can no longer depend on territorial control to govern (cyber)space, powerful corporations own essential cloud infrastructure, state actors denying the importance of democracy and human rights have crucial roles in supply chains, and users are left without ch...

This article analyses cybersecurity frameworks which address cybercrime, safeguarding critical infrastructure, approaches to cyberwar and cyberespionage in Indonesia and the Netherlands. We compare approaches addressing cybersecurity-related challenges in an international context. While Indonesia and the Netherlands share some common history, signi...

This open access book presents innovative strategies to address cross-cutting topics and foster transversal competences. The modernization of European legal education presents a compelling challenge that calls for enhanced interdisciplinary collaboration among academic disciplines and innovative teaching methods. The volume introduces venues toward...

This introduction provides an overview of the contents of the edited volume Modernising European Legal Education (MELE)—Innovative strategies to address urgent cross-cutting challenges. The volume contains sections on Law and Education Innovation, Law and Gender, Law and the Climate Crisis, Law and Datafication, as well as Law and COVID-19. The pur...

Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have pervaded all aspects of modern life. For decades, popular culture and science fiction literature have frequently featured autonomous systems, robots, algorithms and other manifestations-or imaginations-of what data-driven lives could look like. Asimov's three laws of robotics or Philip K. Dick's questi...

Universities are increasingly dependent on cloud-based data infrastructure and services. They have been migrating ‘their local data’ now for more than a decade. We need a profound discussion about this paradigmatic shift, which heavily affects the autonomy of students, staff, and higher education as such. AI-based inferences might deprive students...

The idea of a right to be forgotten on the Internet is controversial. Some perceive it as a much-needed instrument to protect privacy, personality and autonomy, while others fear opacity, censorship, and a loss of freedom of expression. This entry traces the origins of the so-called ‘right to be forgotten’ and outlines how it became a legal figure,...

On 8 December 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg delivered its latest landmark judgment on the ‘right to be forgotten’ in case C-460/20 TU, RE vs Google LLC. In many aspects the Grand Chamber follows the opinion of Advocate General Pitruzella from 7 April 2022, and the verdict can be described as an incremental co...

Various measures have been proposed to address risks associated with Citizenship by Investment (CBI) and Residence by Investment (RBI) programmes. Some of these measures relate to increased transparency, which in turn raises questions related to privacy. Specifically, measures include the publication of the identity of those who acquire a legal sta...

English) The European Commission proposal for a legal framework to comprehensively regulate Artificial Intelligence (AI) came after years of public consultation and deliberation. Most prominently the AI High Level Expert Group (AI HLEG) prepared ethical guidelines and policy recommendations since 2018. While countries such as China and the United S...

Students and teachers find themselves increasingly surrounded by Big Data and AI technologies that facilitate the learning process and the organisation of school life. Accordingly, vast amounts of data are being collected on the working of the entire school community. This trend-referred to as the 'datafication' of education-was pushed immensely du...

The United Nations confirmed that privacy remains a human right in the digital age, but our daily digital experiences and seemingly ever-increasing amounts of data suggest that privacy is a mundane, distributed and technologically mediated concept. This article explores privacy by mapping out different legal and conceptual approaches to privacy pro...

The capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) evolve rapidly and affect almost all sectors of society. AI has been increasingly integrated into criminal and harmful activities, expanding existing vulnerabilities, and introducing new threats. This article reviews the relevant literature, reports, and representative incidents which allows to const...

The European Commission proposal for a legal framework to comprehensively regulate Artificial Intelligence (AI) came after years of public consultation and deliberation. Most prominently the AI High Level Expert Group (AI HLEG) prepared ethical guidelines and policy recommendations since 2018. While countries such as China and the United States, or...

The design and management of digital identity is a complex challenge. On the one hand, it requires a clear understanding of the parameters that are involved in identity management. On the other hand, it requires the cooperation of many stakeholders. In particular, this involves those public authorities and private organisations that need to be alig...

This article examines whether the territorial scope of the EU General Data Protection Regulation promotes European values. While the regulation received international attention, it remains questionable whether provisions with extraterritorial effect support a power-based approach or a value-driven strategy. Developments around the enforceability of...

Distributed Ledger Technology can be an effective tool for resource distribution. As individuals and organisations explore innovations which allow to redefine the rules of access, possession and sharing these developments also become important for the future of self-determination. Demonstrated through credit scoring and 'social credit systems', the...

On 20 May 2021, the European Commission, Council and Parliament announced a breakthrough in the trialogue negotiations to establish the European Union (EU) Digital COVID Certificate. Originally, this standardisation effort was labelled as “Digital Green Certificate” and – “[i]n view of the urgency” – presented without a data protection impact asses...

• This article analyses data-driven measures used in South America to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. Based on a broad review of relevant programmes in the region three selected cases from Argentina (Cuidar App), Brazil (use of personal data by IBGE), and Chile (CoronApp) are evaluated against best regional and international practices. • Our find...

This article looks at central opportunities and drawbacks of the ‘passportization’ approach to governing the current health emergency. It showcases the complexity of the ‘vaccination passports’ idea, the technological and organisational difficulties expected during implementation, as well as its regrettable appeal. We provide a comprehensive overvi...

This article looks at central opportunities and drawbacks of the ‘passportization’ approach to governing the current health emergency. It showcases the complexity of the ‘vaccination passports’ idea, the technological and organisational difficulties expected during implementation, as well as its regrettable appeal. We provide a comprehensive overvi...

At present, there is great variance in the law and practice concerning the publication of personal data of newly naturalized citizens across the European Union Member States, affecting a million individuals annually. Depending on the extent of the personal details made available, publishing the fact that an individual has naturalized can have negat...

A transparent debate about algorithms The police use all sorts of information to fulfil their tasks. Whereas collection and interpretation of information traditionally could only be done by humans, the emergence of ‘Big Data’ creates new opportunities and dilemmas. On the one hand, large amounts of data can be used to train algorithms. This allows...

Distributed Ledger Technology can be an effective tool for resource distribution. As individuals and organisations explore innovations which allow to redefine the rules of access, possession and sharing these developments also become important for the future of self-determination. Demonstrated through credit scoring and ‘social credit systems’, the...

Facing the fragmentation of digital space in the aftermath of the Snowden revelations, this article considers regulatory models available to avoid the balkanisation of the internet. Considering government-led surveillance in particular, available strategies are investigated to create a trustworthy and universal digital space, based on human rights...

Societies at large still grapple to categorize digital space as a phenomenon. At the same time, scientists and developers are searching for innovative methods to better understand how the fundamental shifts caused by digital change will affect the future of humanity over the coming decades. Interdisciplinary governance research at the intersection...

The Digital Age has fundamentally reshaped the preconditions for privacy and freedom of expression. This transpires in the debate about a "right to be forgotten". While the 2014 decision of the European Court of Justice in "Google Spain" touches upon the underlying issue of how increasing amounts of personal data affects individuals over time, the...

The COVID-19 pandemic leads governments around the world to resort to tracking technology and other data-driven tools in order to monitor and curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Such large-scale incursion into privacy and data protection is unthinkable during times of normalcy. However, in times of a pandemic the use of location data provided by telecom...

While “classical” human identity has kept philosophers busy since millennia, “Digital Identity” seems primarily machine related. Telephone numbers, E-Mail inboxes, or Internet Protocol (IP)-addresses are irrelevant to define us as human beings at first glance. However, with the omnipresence of digital space the digital aspects of identity gain impo...

While the digital layer of social interaction continues to evolve, the recently proclaimed hopes in the development of digital identity could be both naïve and dangerous. Rather than just asking ourselves how we could digitize existing features of identity management, and corresponding financial transactions on a community or state level, we submit...

Presentation on the Eu-funded Horizon 2020 'Cutting Crime Impact' Project (https://www.cuttingcrimeimpact.eu) during a University of Groningen Data Federation Hub Meetup at Campus Fryslân on 17 October 2019. More information: https://www.rug.nl/datafederationhub/calendar/dfh-meetup-data-research-center-campus-fryslan

While ‘classical’ human identity has kept philosophers busy since millennia, ‘Digital Identity’ seems primarily machine related. Telephone numbers, E-Mail inboxes, or Internet Protocol (IP)-addresses are irrelevant to define us as human beings at first glance. However, with the omnipresence of digital space the digital aspects of identity gain impo...

While Predictive Policing is an innovative tool to use data and statistical methods to forecast the probability of crime and improve the effectiveness of deployment of resources, it is based on many underpinning assumptions. The main ethical issues relating to PP circle around the themes data selection and machine bias, visualisation and interpreta...

Various smartphone apps and services are available which encourage users to report where and when they feel they are in an unsafe or threatening environment. This user generated content may be used to build datasets, which can show areas that are considered ‘bad,’ and to map out ‘safe’ routes through such neighbourhoods. Despite certain advantages,...