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Jantina Tammes School of Digital Society, Technology and AI Calendar

Eyes Everywhere? Decoding State Digital Surveillance in The Netherlands

When:Fr 01-03-2024 15:00 - 17:30
Where:House of Connections, Grote Markt 21, Groningen

In October 2023, the Dutch House of Representatives adopted The Tijdelijke Wet Cyberoperaties (The Temporary Cyber Operations Act). This is a legislative framework in the Netherlands that provides the legal basis for government agencies, specifically intelligence and security services, to conduct cyber operations.

Eyes everywhere

The act outlines the circumstances under which these cyber operations can be carried out and establishes the legal framework governing the use of digital means for intelligence and security purposes. The act poses questions and challenges regarding balancing security and privacy, potential issues of safeguards and oversight, as well as legal clarity and transparency.

This event brings together interdisciplinary academics from RUG and relevant security and legal experts from the Netherlands with the aim to unravel the layers of the Dutch Temporary Cyber Operations Act, and, by extension, the broader landscape of surveillance conducted by secret services, in an interactive panel.

This event is organised by the SSiGNAll: Surveillance Studies in Groningen Network for All in collaboration with the Jantina Tammes School of Digital Society, Technology and AI.

Confirmed speakers

Bert Hubert is a former member of the Toetsingscommissie Inzet Bevoegdheden Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdiensten (TIB), an internal oversight board of the Dutch secret service.

Lotte Houwing is a policy advisor at Bits of Freedom, a digital rights NGO. She specializes in protections against abuses of power by the police and secret services.

Rowin Jansen is a PhD researcher at the Radboud University, who is studying oversight of the Dutch secret services.

Dr. Aitana Radu is Lecturer and Security Research Coordinator at the University of Malta. She has previously worked as an intelligence practitioner in Romania.

Dr. Evgeni Moyakine is an assistant professor at the University of Groningen's IT law department. His research focuses on telecommunications, international law aspects of cybersecurity, and state responsibility for hacking operations.

As a discussant, we will add Gaby Perin-Gopie, who chairs the Volt-faction in the Dutch Senate (Eerste Kamer), which will be discussing the law on the Tuesday following the event.