The digital omnibus: What does it mean for our digital rights?

It's easy to overlook what's happening in Brussels right now: massive legislative changes are underway without much attention. The EU is in the process of "simplifying rules", but according to critics, critical digital rights are being watered down. In November, the European Commission published the Digital Omnibus with amendments to legislation on AI, data, privacy, and cybersecurity. In May, the EU colegislators agreed to a line of postponements of the obligationsof the AI Act.

IDA and Danish Institute for Human Rights invite you to a presentation by Ralf Bendrath with response from Rikke Frank Jørgensen to explore the possibilities, challenges and pitfalls of the Digital Omnibus. You can expect deep dive discussions in the intersection between technology, regulation and human aspects of how legislative decisions on EU level affect our everyday life and work.

Program:

• Presentation from Ralf Bendrath - the EU perspective (1 hour)
• Response by Rikke Frank Jørgensen, IMR (10 minutes)
• Open discussion
• Networking with sandwiches

Speakers: 

Ralf Bendrath, Advisor on Civil Liberties, for the transnational parliamentary group "The European Greens" in the European Parliament, where he primarily works with data protection and digital rights. In his spare time, he is active in the Digitale Gesellschaft e.V. He hacked the Commodore C-64 in the 1980s, studied political science in the 1990s, researched cyber warfare and data protection in the 00s, and has worked in the European Parliament since 2009.

Rikke Frank Jørgensen, Senior Researcher, Adj. Professor of Digital Rights, University of Copenhagen. Her research focuses on the intersection between technology and human rights. Currently, she is exploring how AI and data-driven systems impact on welfare services and citizens’ rights, including the role technology companies play in this transformation. She is particularly interested in issues related to agency, power, rights, the commercialized public sphere, technology narratives, and regulation.

Moderator:

Grit Munk, head of Digital Policy