The Brussels Laboratory for Data Protection & Privacy Impact Assessments, (d.pia.lab) is pleased to announce the second seminar in a series called "Non-objective risk to a right". In the next seminar, "A Risk to a Right", it will explore how the notion of risk under the GDPR has become inscribed in an assessment of the impacts of personal data processing operations on the rights of data subjects. The coupling of the notions of risks and rights, inherent to this approach, can lead to unpredictable and undesirable consequences for data subjects. In this discussion, the Laboratory will share insights on the topic identifying potential gaps in current DPIA practices and draw lessons from other practices that relate these notions, namely environmental governance and courts.
The presentation will be conducted by Niels van Dijk, Professor of Legal Philosophy and Legal Sociology at Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB) and the director of the Brussels Laboratory for Privacy and Data Protection Impact Assessments.
The series is dedicated to the project "Risk as a Non-Objective Phenomenon: Integrating Cognitive, Legal, and Social Science into the Concept of Risk in European Data Protection Law". This project aims to deepen the understanding of the non-objective nature of risk, including the 'risk to a right.' It analyses the implications of this non-objectivity in legal practice, especially regarding fundamental rights and assessment participants. We will explore potential impacts, questioning this characteristic from various perspectives, such as the risk-based approach (courts and DPAs), the Science, Technology, and Society (STS) critique of risk, and risk perception studies. By questioning the possibility of an objective risk assessment, the project provides new insights into the non-objective nature of these evaluations.
Format: 30 minutes for presentation followed by one hour open for discussions.
The suggested literature:
- Essential:
van Dijk, N., Gellert, R., & Rommetveit, K. (2016). A risk to a right? Beyond data protection
risk assessments. Computer Law & Security Review, 32(2), 286-306.
- Additional:
Demetzou, K. (2020). Risk to the ‘Rights and Freedoms’. Data Protection and Privacy, Volume 12: Data Protection and Democracy, 12, 127.
Stirling, A. (2007). Risk, precaution and science: towards a more constructive policy debate: talking point on the precautionary principle. EMBO reports, 8(4), 309-315.
The seminar is scheduled for May 17, 2024, from 14:00 to 15:30, in the hybrid format, (Online: MS Teams/ Onsite: VUB Campus – Ixelles, C 3.06, Building C, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels).
To participate in the seminar, please register at https://bit.ly/44mDbfH. Further information can be found on the D.PIA.Lab website.