It’s the end of the world as we know it

by Theresa Henne, Peter Hübelbauer and Saskia Kaltenbrunner

“It’s the end of the world as we know it” was the title of the 9th EDEN Conference on data protection and law enforcement that took place in The Hague, on the 19th and 20th of September, hosted by Europol and organised by ERA, the Academy of European Law in cooperation with Europol’s Data Protection Experts Network (EDEN). From the Department of Innovation and Digitalisation in Law, we, Theresa, Peter and Saskia, travelled from cold and rainy Vienna to colder and rainier The Hague to join two days of exciting panels, keynotes, and networking opportunities.  

Despite the slightly gloomy title, the conference gave us a chance to discuss not only challenges, but more broadly speaking trends and opportunities in data protection and law enforcement. The opening speeches given by Daniel Drewer, Head of the Data Protection Function at Europol, and others set the tone for a discussion on how to achieve the right to privacy and the right to security, and not one at the expense of the other. 

From a discussion of emerging trends in AI and law enforcement, over the use of virtual reality to reduce ethnic profiling, online policing, disinformation and online radicalisation, all the way to ethical hacking, the conference covered a broad range of discussion topics, frequently drawing on recent developments linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and to the invasion of Ukraine.

Throughout the conference, there was also an emphasis on Europol’s new legal mandate, through which Europol gains more comprehensive data processing powers for the support of a criminal investigation and research and innovation. Furthermore, the amendment introduces the role of an independent Fundamental Rights Officer, in addition to the already existing independent Data Protection Officer at Europol.

With a mix of law enforcement, industry, and academia attending, the conference also gave us a chance to share ideas from two of our Department’s law enforcement projects, Infinity and Odysseus. The aim of Infinity is to develop a collaborative platform for European law enforcement agencies using modern innovations in virtual and augmented reality, machine learning and big data analytics. The international Consortium brings together twenty partners from ten different EU member states and the US, including end-users, industry partners and academia.

Odysseus aims to increase the knowledge on explosive precursors and homemade explosives (HMEs), including precursors not previously studied, and to develop effective and efficient prognostic, detection, and forensic tools to improve the capabilities of law enforcement agencies towards the prevention, countering, and investigation of terrorist incidents involving HMEs. With a Consortium of four law enforcement agencies, nine research/academic partners and five industry partners, Odysseus delivers a strong representation of the challenges, requirements and tools to meet its objectives.

A key component for both projects is getting feedback and input from stakeholders across disciplines and sectors, for which the EDEN Conference was the ideal setting.  

Personal highlights included the keynote speech by Joe Cannataci, former UN rapporteur on the right to privacy, who reflected on a number of beliefs about privacy that have faltered in recent decades, such as the assumption that anonymization effectively protects individuals and the sneak peek into the upcoming report on “Policing the Metaverse” from Europol’s Innovation Lab. 

We are looking forward to next year!