From a Legitimacy Perspective to a Human Rights Approach to Technical Standardisation
(PRoTecTS)
The project addresses the legal challenges posed by the regulation of digital technologies carried out by private actors in the European Union (EU). From artificial intelligence to cyber resilience, the EU has put forward an ambitious package of legislative acts which will heavily rely on detailed specifications adopted in particular by private standardisation organisations for their implementation. The involvement of standardisation organisations in EU digital regulation, however, raises unprecedented questions pertaining to the legal effects of their activities on the fundamental rights of individuals, such as human dignity, right to privacy, protection of personal data, and freedom of expression.
Departing from the traditional doctrinal approach which focused on the legitimacy of standardisation organisations, the project will analyse and assess this form of private regulation from the perspective of the rights of individuals. It aims at providing a comprehensive overview of the role of standardisation organisations, and of the implications for fundamental rights of their activities, in connection to the EU digital strategy for 2019-2024. Its ultimate objective is to develop clear guidelines and concrete recommendations for a legal framework where fundamental rights of individuals are duly taken into account in the activities of standardisation organisations connected to the EU regulation of digital technologies.
Duration: 30 months, starting October 2024
Funding: The project is funded by the EU initiative NextGenerationEU and by the program STARS Starting Grant (STARS-StG) 2023 of the University of Padua. (https://www.unipd.it/en/stars2023)
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