IECL Lunchtime Seminar with Stephan Koloßa – Data & Their Subjects – Comparative Approaches to Theories, Methods, and Tools of Anonymisation

The IECL Lunchtime Seminar Series offers our Academic Visitors an opportunity to share their research, exchange ideas, and connect with colleagues on both substantive and methodological aspects of their work. 

Each seminar usually lasts 30–45 minutes, with 20–30 minutes for the presentation followed by 10–15 minutes for Q&A. A light sandwich lunch will be provided.

Stephan Koloßa
Data & Their Subjects – Comparative Approaches to Theories, Methods, and Tools of Anonymisation

Abstract: For modern technology, data is quintessential. Every computer, phone, or other technical device relies on it. AI tools would not work without having been trained on large sets of data. Though the law increasingly facilitates and fosters a wide use as well as a free flow and sharing of data, data protection law sets boundaries to a hasty dissemination of personal data. Turning narrowly protected personal data into non-personal, easily utilisable data is an endeavour at the intersection of law and technology. This is both a privacy-preserving technique and a constitutive element of how data subjects are rendered identifiable or anonymous within digital infrastructures while they remain data subjects without becoming subjects to data. The presented research focuses on anonymisation from a comparative perspective as the key to the right balance of data governance and personal data protection.