20.11.2019

Workshop on Feminist Data Protection

The workshop was organised with the support of the Unabhängiges Landeszentrum für Datenschutz (ULD) Schleswig-Holstein, the International Center for Ethics in the Sciences and Humanities (IZEW) and the Center for Gender and Diversity Research (ZGD) of the University of Tübingen and the Law, Science, Technology and Society Research Group of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
Organisers: Regina Ammicht Quinn, Andreas Baur, Felix Bieker, Gloria González Fuster, Marit Hansen, and Jens T. Theilen | Mail to Organisers

About the Workshop

The notion of data protection has increasingly become a part of legal and political discourse in Europe, as exemplified by the inclusion of a right to data protection in the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights. Yet there have been relatively few engagements in thinking and framing data protection from an explicitly feminist perspective. This stands in stark contrast to the notion of privacy, with which data protection is often conflated and which has been the subject of extensive feminist critique, particularly insofar as it relates to the distinction between public and private spheres. The starting point of this workshop is that the notion of data protection, once disentangled from privacy, warrants further examination from a perspective of intersectional feminism.

Data protection may be understood by considering the power imbalance with which individuals are confronted when their data are processed: public and private entities can collect data without the individuals’ knowledge and it is hardly possible for individuals to control their data, once collected. The processing of data thereby creates inherent risks for individuals – particularly so for those already marginalized or subject to discrimination – and affects the distribution of power in our societies. Thus data protection, like feminism, aims at theorizing and changing structural inequalities and power relations. We wish to discuss these structural issues as well as potential answers through the lens of emancipatory approaches, such as feminist, queer, Marxist, post-colonial, critical race or disability studies perspectives.

The workshop took place on Wednesday, 20 November 2019 (before the annual conference of Forum Privacy) in the Landesvertretung, the permanent representation of Schleswig-Holstein in Berlin, located centrally between the Brandenburg Gate and Potsdamer Platz (In den Ministergärten 8, 10117 Berlin).

Programme

9.30–9.50	Welcome Marit Hansen, Unabhängiges Landeszentrum für Datenschutz (ULD), and Regina Ammicht Quinn, University of Tübingen
	Introduction Felix Bieker, Unabhängiges Landeszentrum für Datenschutz (ULD)
9.50–11.10	“Prescripted Living: Gender Stereotypes and Surveillance Technologies” Laura Carter, University of Essex
	“The Past, the Future, and the Thresholds: A Mathematical Framework for Analysing Predictive Algorithmic Systems” Paola Lopez, University of Vienna
	Discussion Moderation: Elizabeth Coombs, Chair, UN SRP Thematic Action Stream ‘Privacy and Personality’
11.10–11.30	Coffee Break
11.30–13.00	“‘Sorry, I didn’t catch that.’ – The Implications of Smart, Internet-Connected Technologies for Victims and Survivors of Domestic and Sexual Violence and Abuse” Leonie Maria Tanczer, University College London
	“Menstrual Surveillance is a Feminist Issue: Privacy Concerns in Period and Fertility Apps” Tereza Hendl and Niels Nijsingh, both Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
	Discussion Comment and moderation: Joana Varon, Coding Rights and Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University
13.00–14.00	Lunch Break
14.00–16.00	“Forensic DNA Phenotyping: DNA Surveillance Policy at the Intersection of Racism and Sexism” Isabelle Bartram, University of Freiburg
	“It’s a -match- trap! Misogyny, Surveillance, Gaslighting and the Use of Apps for the Persecution of Activists” Mariana Canto, Recife Institute for Research on Law and Technology
	“Data Collection and Formation of the Gendered Subject in the Provision of International Aid” Erica See, Canadian Red Cross Society, Ottawa
	Discussion Moderation: Andreas Baur, University of Tübingen
16.00–16.20	Coffee Break
16.20–17.20	Wrap-Up Session Moderation: Marit Hansen, Unabhängiges Landeszentrum für Datenschutz (ULD), and Regina Ammicht Quinn, University of Tübingen
	A kind of summary: Gloria González Fuster, Free University of Brussels (VUB)
	Discussion
From 17.20	Open Space for Discussion of Future Prospects Joint discussion of potential avenues for publication; the room will also be available afterwards to discuss possibilities of future collaboration and the like for those who are interested

as download
Programme for the Workshop

Slides and Summaries

Name	Slides
Forensic DNA Phenotyping: DNA Surveillance Policy at the Intersection of Racism and Sexism - Isabelle Bartram, University of Freiburg
Prescripted Living: Gender Stereotypes and Surveillance Technologies - Laura Carter, University of Essex
‘Sorry, I didn’t catch that.’ – The Implications of Smart, Internet-Connected Technologies for Victims and Survivors of Domestic and Sexual Violence and Abuse - Leonie Maria Tanczer, University College London
Menstrual Surveillance is a Feminist Issue: Privacy Concerns in Period and Fertility Apps (summary) – Tereza Hendl and Niels Nijsingh, both Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Data mobility and personal information protection in the provision of humanitarian aid. Erica See, LLD Ottawa Canada