People at the digital legal lab

associated researchers

inge graef

associate PROFESSOR OF law & technology

inge graef focuses on competition enforcement in the digital economy. she is particularly interested in the interface between competition law and other fields of eu law such as data protection, intellectual property and electronic communications law.

click to read more about inge's work at the digital legal lab

Pietro Ortolani

professor of Digital Conflict Resolution

Pietro ortolani is professor of digital conflict resolution at radboud university nijmegen. He is admitted to the Bar in Italy and he also works as a practitioner, mainly in the field of arbitration.

click to read more about pietro's work at the digital legal lab

gijs van dijck

professor of private law

Gijs van Dijck is an empirical legal scholar who specialises in tort law, insolvency law, and contract law. He uses empirical legal research methods and data sciences methods, network analysis in particular, to analyse legal issues. he co-manages the maastricht law & tech lab.

natali helberger

PROFESSOR of law & digital technology

Natali Helberger is a Professor of Law and Digital Technology, with a special focus on AI. Her research investigates the social and legal implications of digital technology and automated decision making.

Ronald Leenes

PROFESSOR OF REGULATION BY TECHNOLOGY

Ronald Leenes is a professor in regulation by technology and head of the department of law, technology, markets & society (ltms) at Tilburg University. his research focuses on privacy, ai & legal issues of robotics.

Joris van hoboken

professor of law & data protection

Joris van Hoboken is a professor of law at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB) and a Senior Researcher at the Amsterdam Institute for Information Law (IViR). his research focuses on the regulation of computational infrastructures and the protection of fundamental rights.

estheR keymolen

professor in digital technology regulation

Esther Keymolen is professor in digital technology regulation at the tilburg institute for law, technology, and society (TILT). Her research focuses on how legal notions of liability, accountability and responsibility take shape in socio-technical contexts, and how these notions align or conflict with ethical values such as trust and trustworthiness.

andré janssen

PROFESSOR OF private law

andré janssen is a professor of private law, focusing particularly on contract law, tort law, european private law, and the intersection between law & ai. he is the editor-in-chief of the european review of private law (ERPL).

Pieter wolters

associate PROFESSOR OF private law, privacy & cyber security

Pieter Wolters is an associate professor of cybersecurity, privacy and law. His research topics include the private enforcement of privacy law, legal obligations to provide secure software, and the European framework for cybersecurity and privacy rules.

mireille van eechoud

PROFESSOR OF information law

Mireille van Eechoud is professor of Information Law, and director of the Amsterdam Graduate School of Law. Her key research themes include the relationship between constitutional rights to information, data protection, and the commercial use of public sector information.

ronan fahy

senior researcher in information law & fundamental rights

Ronan fahy is a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Information Law (IViR), University of Amsterdam. He specialises in fundamental rights, in particular freedom of expression and privacy.

Bart van der sloot

associate professor of big data & privacy

Philosopher and legal scholar Bart van der Sloot specialises in the area of Privacy and Big Data. He also publishes regularly on the liability of Internet Intermediaries, data protection and internet regulation. Key issues are the GDPR, international data flows, especially between Europe and the United States, and data leaks.

linnet tayloR

PROFESSOR OF international data governance

linnet taylor IS PROFESSOR of international data governance at the tilburg institute for law, technology, and society (TILT). She leads the ERC-funded Global Data Justice project, seeking to understand the different perspectives worldwide on what constitutes just treatment through data technologies.

Jill toh

PhD researcher on Platform regulation

Jill Toh is a PhD candidate at the Amsterdam Institute for Information Law (IViR). Her work looks at the concept and power of online platforms through technology, law and political economy approaches, in order to explore new regulatory forms of data governance.

Merel Noorman

assistant professor in ai, robotics and science & technology studies

Merel Noorman coordinates the AI & Robotics group at the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology & Society (TILT). Her research interests include the governance and regulation of AI and robotics, with a particular focus on the distribution of responsibility around complex intelligent technologies.

Floris Bex

professor of data science and the judiciary

Floris Bex is professor in data science and the judiciary. He studies how people reason, how this reasoning can be captured in formal models, and how it can be supported and improved using AI technologies.

Raphaël gellert

Assistant professor in ict and private law

Raphaël Gellert is an assistant professor in private law and ICT. Looking into the computational turn, his research tries to problematise the contemporary modes of operation of law. In this ambit he looks at cases stemming from data protection, e-commerce, product liability, or cybersecurity.

tjaša petročnik

phd researcher on law & technology

Tjaša Petročnik is a PhD candidate at Tilburg Law School. She previously worked in EU public affairs both in Brussels and Ljubljana. her research interests include the political economy of data and online platforms, the intersections of health, environment, and technology, as well as bioethics.

Charmian lim

PHD researcher on law & artificial intelligence

Charmian Lim is a phd researcher on law & Ai at Tilburg University. within the digital legal studies group, she is involved in a research project that explores the impact of AI, data science and automation on the legal system.

Naomi appelman

pHd researcher on online speech regulation

Naomi Appelman is a PhD researcher at the Amsterdam Institute of Information Law (IViR), specialising in online speech regulation. Her research combines law and philosophy and focuses on strengthening the legal position of users by means of enabling legal contestation of the control over online speech.

frederik zuiderveen borgesius

professor of ict & law

Frederik Zuiderveen Borgesius is Professor of ICT and Law at Radboud University Nijmegen, where he is affiliated with the interdisciplinary research hub on Security, Privacy, and Data Governance: the iHub. His research interests include privacy, data protection, and discrimination, especially in the context of new technologies.

Roland Moerland

assistant professor of supranational criminology

Roland Moerland is Assistant Professor of Criminology at Maastricht University. His research focuses on gross human rights violations and state (corporate) crime. He also has a special interest in how processes of denial facilitate the perpetration of such crimes.

Anna van Duin

researcher & lecturer in private law

Anna van Duin is a researcher and lecturer specialising in Civil Procedure. She focuses on access to justice and effective remedies for private parties. She has a particular interest in the digital transformation of judicial decision-making and the role of technology in the civil justice system.

Catalin Rusu

associate professor of european law

Catalin Rusu is Associate Professor of European Law at Radboud University. Catalin’s research focuses on the dynamic role that EU competition law plays in the Internal Market and the distinct approaches to competition law enforcement in different (European) jurisdictions.

Eleni kosta

professor of technology, law & human rights

Eleni Kosta is a professor in technology, law and human rights. She is working on privacy and data protection, specialising in electronic communications and new technologies, as well as on health law.

Tom Vennmanns

PHD researcher on smart contracts & conflict resolution

Tom Vennmanns is a PhD candidate in smart contracts and conflict resolution, who focuses on the legal and societal challenges of the digital age. His research interests include AI, legal tech and Blockchain technology.

Joran van Apeldoorn

PostDocTORal researcher in quantum computing

Joran van Apeldoorn is a Post-doctoral researcher on Quantum Computing & Semidefinite Optimisation. He is a pure mathematician with a focus on theoretical computer science and some interest in physics.

Ilaria Buri

associate researcher digital services act observatory

Ilaria Buri is as an associate researcher at the Institute for Information Law (IViR), where her activity is focused on the Digital Services Act Observatory. Prior to joining IViR, Ilaria was a researcher at the University of Leuven (CITIP), where she worked on several EU-funded projects dealing with data protection, cybersecurity and e-health-related matters.

christina winters

postdoctoral researcher

Christina Winters is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Tilburg Institute for Technology, Law and Society (TILT). As a psychologist, she focuses on identity maintenance and its relationship with citizens' digital privacy behaviors and trust attitudes toward data-driven organizations.

jerry spanakis

assistant professor in machine learning

Jerry Spanakis is an assistant professor at the Department of Data Science and Knowledge Engineering (DKE) at Maastricht University and the Maastricht Law & Tech Lab. His current research lies in the area of Social Machine Learning.

Rachel Rietveld

PhD researcher on AI in the justice system

Rachel Rietveld focuses on the intersection of law and technology, both in her practice and her research. She develops expert systems in order to make law more accessible. Her PhD research is on the potential and limitations of legal tech, ethical dilemmas and how to build a framework for the legal use of artificial intelligence.

Yong Yong Hu

PhD researcher on law & cybersecurity

Yong Yong Hu is a PhD candidate in law and cybersecurity at Radboud University. Her research focuses on the EU cybersecurity framework, and the legal obligations for the reliability and security of digital information.

click to read more about yong yong's work at the digital legal lab

Ana-Maria Hriscu

PhD researcher on digital legal studies

Ana-Maria Hriscu is a PhD candidate within the Digital Legal Studies project "Concepts in a data-centric regulatory paradigm", sub-project "Consent & contracts", at Tilburg University. Her research focuses on privacy & data protection, consumer and contract law in the context of data-driven technologies.

Rohan Nanda

researcher on artificial intelligence & law

rohan nanda holds a phd in legal informatics and computer science. His research focuses on data science, natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning technologies in the context of law.

Belle Beems

PhD researcher on competition law & digital legal studies

Belle Beems is a phd candidate on competition law and digital legal studies at Radboud University nijmegen. her expertise lies in EU competition law, EU internal market law, Economic law, Digital markets, Law and technology.

Marcus Meyer

Assistant professor of labour law

Marcus Meyer is an assistant professor of labour law in a corporate context and leader of the Cross-border Corporate Mobility in the EU project. His research combines empirical legal research and data science methods to unravel the legal complexity of corporate transactions in a cross-border context and its implications for company stakeholders.

Antoine Louis

PhD researcher in Artificial Intelligence & Law

Antoine Louis is a PhD Candidate in Artificial Intelligence and Law at the Maastricht Law & Tech Lab. His research focuses on Data Science and Natural Language Processing technologies to automate the law.

Enguerrand Marique

Assistant Professor in conflict solving institutions & digital conflict resolution

Enguerrand Marique is an Assistant Professor in Conflict Solving Institutions and Digital conflict resolution at Radboud University Nijmegen and a guest lecturer at the UCLouvain. His current research addresses conflict resolution between users and platforms.

hadassa noorda

assistant professor of criminal law

Hadassa Noorda is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Law at the University of Amsterdam. She works in the area of philosophy of criminal law. Prior to joing the University of Amsterdam, Hadassa was a postdoctoral researcher at NYU's Center for Law and Philosophy, Columbia Law School, and Rutgers Institute for Law and Philosophy

Tim Walree

assistant professor in tort law, data protection & AI

Tim Walree is an assistant professor at Radboud University. His research focuses on tort law, data protection and AI.

Paddy Leerssen

PhD candidate in law

Paddy Leerssen is a PhD Candidate in Law with a broad interest in media and communications law. His PhD project explores how European law shapes the transparency and accountability of algorithmic content distribution in social media platforms. To this end the combines legal analysis with insights from communications science and media studies. Paddy is also a non-resident fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Internet and Society, where he was a research fellow in 2017-2018.

Svetlana Yakovleva

Postdoctoral researcher

Svetlana Yakovleva is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute for Information Law (IViR) of the University of Amsterdam. Her research focuses on cross-border digital trade, data protection and data governance.

Hellen van der Kroef

PhD candidate in digital legal studies

Hellen van der Kroef is a PhD researcher on the use of multilingual legal knowledge graphs to assist in EU law-making. She completed a double master's degree in European and International Law at respectively the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the University of Toulouse. Additionally, she followed a well-credited course in web development at a private institution in Amsterdam, after which she worked as a programmer until starting her PhD.

Anna Pivaty

assistant professor of criminal law

Anna Pivaty is Assistant Professor of Criminal Law and Researcher on Conflict-Solving Institutions at Radboud University. Her current research focuses, among other topics, on digitalisation of courts and conflict resolution.

Eva van der Graaf

PhD Researcher Digital Justice

Eva van der Graaf is a PhD researcher at the Institute for Information Law (IViR) and the Department of Jurisprudence (ARL, Amsterdam Law School). Her research combines philosophy and law, and focuses on the impact of digitalized and automated contexts on legal reasoning and (judicial) decision-making.

Ljubiša Metikoš

PhD researcher Digital Justice

Ljubiša Metikoš is a PhD Researcher at the Amsterdam Institute for Information Law (IViR), the RPA HumaneAI and the Paul Scholten Centre for Jurisprudence. He researches the social implications and the underlying values of automated decision making by the state from a regulatory and (legal) philosophical perspective.

Yelyzaveta (Lisa) Markova

phD researcher on Anonymity and authenticity on online platforms

Yelyzaveta (Lisa) Markova is a PhD candidate at Radboud University. Her research focuses on anonymity and authenticity on online platforms within the EU Law perspective. In addition, her research interests include data protection, privacy, as well as regulation of emerging technologies in the EU.

Aurelia Tamò-Larrieux

Assistant professor in privacy, security & computational law

Aurelia Tamò-Larrieux is an Assistant Professor for Privacy, Security, and Computational Law at Maastricht University. She has a background in law and economics and is specialized in research at the intersection of law and digital technologies with a particular focus on privacy, data protection, design approaches for privacy-friendly technologies, transparency of automated decision-making, automatically processable regulation, and trust in automation.

Gustavo Arosemena

Assistant Professor of International and European Law

Gustavo Arosemena is an assistant professor in the department of international and European Law at Maastricht University. He works in the field of human rights and legal reasoning. In particular, he is interested in conflicts and tradeoffs between human rights and their political implications, as well as case law analytics.

Irene Kamara

Assistant Professor in cybersecurity, data protection, standardization & Non-discrimination

Irene Kamara is Assistant Professor at the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society (TILT). Her research explores norm-making and enforcement in the digital environment. Her teaching focuses on cybersecurity law, data protection, and non-discrimination.

Marvin van Bekkum

PhD researcher on AI & non-discrimination

Marvin van Bekkum studied both Law and Computing Science at Radboud University. He works as a PhD Candidate at the Interdisciplinary Research Hub on Digitalization and Society (iHub) at Radboud University. His research focuses on Non-discrimination by and Fairness of Artificial Intelligence in the Insurance Sector.

Giedo Jansen

Assistant professor in regulation of labour

Giedo Jansen is Assistant Professor Regulation of Labour at the University of Amsterdam, AIAS-HSI. His research is multidisciplinary and spans various academic disciplines, including sociology, political science and labor relations. Currently, his research increasingly focuses on the ‘future of work’, and specifically studies how technological innovations (e.g., automation, digitalization, algorithmic management) transform work structures and power relations.

Siddharth Peter de Souza

postdoctoral researcher on data justice

Siddharth Peter de Souza is a postdoctoral researcher at the Global Data Justice Project at Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology and Society. His work explores how data is governed globally in contested, and plural settings, and he is interested in the role that social movements and civil society can play in shaping governance frameworks.

Shweta Reddy Degalahal

PhD researcher on informational privacy & data protection

Shweta Reddy Degalahal is a PhD researcher at the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society (TILT) at Tilburg University, focusing on the need to expand the informational privacy rights of individuals to the digital public sphere.

Mattis van 't Schip

phd researcher on the cybersecurity & privacy regulation of internet of things devices

Mattis van 't Schip is a PhD researcher at Radboud University on the cybersecurity and privacy regulation of Internet of Things devices. Primarily, his research focuses on the landscape of European cybersecurity regulation and how the European Union aims to evolve this landscape.

Aviva de Groot

postdoctoral researcher

Aviva de Groot is a postdoctoral researcher at the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology and Society (TILT). Her research interests broadly concern humans, justice, and technology. Their mutual shaping, and how this affects our understanding of rules and the values that drive them.

Friso Bostoen

assistant professor of competition law & digital regulation

Friso Bostoen researches how digital markets are regulated through competition law and related instruments, and also has an interest in AI. His research is informed by other disciplines (such as business strategy), international comparisons (EU–U.S.), and history (of firms and regulation).

Aimen Taimur

PhD researcher on the legal regulation of AI within a Human Rights framework

Aimen Taimur is a PhD Researcher at Tilburg University in the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology and Society (TILT). Her research is focused on the Human Rights defence of cognitive liberty from threats posed by manipulative AI.

Jef Ausloos

Assistant Professor of privacy & data rights

Jef Ausloos is an assistant professor at the Institute for Information Law and. His work centres around several information law issues, and in particular data protection, data rights, transparency, and governance of digital infrastructures.

Michelle Liu

Phd candidate regarding Digital Vulnerabilities in European and Chinese Law

Michelle Liu is a PhD candidate at the Radboud Business Law Institute. She researches new forms of vulnerability of consumers that come with digitalisation. Her PhD thesis will deal with digital vulnerability in EU law and Chinese law.

Jay Doerga

PHD candidate collective redress for privacy law violations & lecturer

Jay Doerga is a PhD candidate and lecturer at Radboud University. In his research he focuses on collective redress for violations of privacy laws.

our cross-university research group continues to grow
and is always open to new collaborations.

Dr. Inge Graef (Tilburg University)

My work in the digital legal studies network...

IS CENTERED AROUND THE NOTION OF AUTONOMY FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE POSITION OF BUSINESSES AS WELL AS INDIVIDUALS VIS-À-VIS DIGITAL PLATFORMS. DIGITAL PLATFORMS ARE GAINING AN INCREASING LEVEL OF CONTROL OVER OUR ECONOMY AND SOCIETY. DUE TO THEIR STRONG POSITIONS, DIGITAL GIANTS MAY DISTORT THE FUNCTIONING OF MARKETS AND INFRINGE UPON THE FREEDOM OF CHOICE OF INDIVIDUALS AND BUSINESSES WHO ARE VULNERABLE BECAUSE OF THE POWER ASYMMETRIES. DIGITAL GIANTS ARE THEREBY ABLE TO ARBITRARILY IMPOSE THEIR OWN RULES OVER THE COMPETITIVE PROCESS, THE AUTONOMY OF BUSINESSES AND INDIVIDUALS, AS WELL AS THE CREATIVITY AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION OF OTHERS.

THESE DEVELOPMENTS RAISE QUESTIONS AT THE INTERFACE OF DIFFERENT LEGAL REGIMES. ON THE ONE HAND, THE WAY IN WHICH BEHAVIOURAL TARGETING AND PERSONALISATION RESTRICTS THE FREEDOM OF CHOICE OF INDIVIDUALS DOES NOT ONLY CREATE DATA PROTECTION AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ISSUES BUT CAN ALSO AFFECT THE NATURE OF COMPETITION AND THEREBY TRIGGER COMPETITION PROBLEMS. THIS CHANGES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMPETITION, DATA PROTECTION AND CONSUMER LAW. ON THE OTHER HAND, THE ‘GATEKEEPING’ NATURE OF PLATFORMS RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW TO CREATE A MORE LEVEL PLAYING FIELD AND HOW TO DEVELOP REGULATORY APPROACHES TO ADDRESS CONCERNS ABOUT OUR DEPENDENCE ON DIGITAL PLATFORMS THAT ARE ENTERING AN INCREASING NUMBER OF SPHERES OF OUR LIVES.

What I hope to achieve with my research is...

TO CREATE A MORE HOLISTIC VIEW OF THE CONCERNS THAT ARE AT STAKE IN THE PROTECTION OF THE AUTONOMY OF INDIVIDUALS AND BUSINESSES IN A DATA-DRIVEN SOCIETY. BEYOND CONCEPTUALIZING HOW PRACTICES OF DIGITAL PLATFORMS ERODE THE AUTONOMY OF INDIVIDUALS AND BUSINESSES WHO ARE DEPENDENT ON THEIR SERVICES, I WOULD LIKE TO EXPLORE WHAT REGULATORY RESPONSES CAN BE DESIGNED TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE THAT LIES AT THE INTERSECTION OF DIFFERENT LEGAL REGIMES.

OUR REGULATORY FRAMEWORK HAS BECOME SO FRAGMENTED THAT DIGITAL PLATFORMS CAN OFTEN BALANCE THE INTERESTS OF INDIVIDUALS AND BUSINESSES IN WAYS THAT SERVE THEIR OWN COMMERCIAL GOALS. WHILE NEW LEGISLATIVE INSTRUMENTS LIKE THE DIGITAL MARKETS ACT AND THE DIGITAL SERVICES ACT STRENGTHEN EXISTING PROTECTIONS, THEY BUILD ON EXISTING PIECEMEAL APPROACHES AND MAY NOT DO ENOUGH TO OVERCOME THE CURRENT SILOED APPROACHES THAT ADDRESS PARTS OF THE PROBLEM WITHOUT TACKLING ITS ROOT. AS SUCH, IMPROVED PROTECTION IS NOT ONLY NEEDED FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE SUBSTANCE OF THE LAW BUT ALSO FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF EFFECTIVE ENFORCEMENT.