Between data privacy and trust – when the car knows too muchChatbots, smart vacuum cleaners, autonomous vehicles: smart products can make life easier in many areas and are about to become a billion-dollar market. But where this technology is in use, it collects data – about living habits, apartment size, driving style and much more. Who gets this data? And what will be done with them? Can users trust such products?? These questions will be the focus of the conference "Smart Products, Privacy and Trust" on 14. Up to the 16. March at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF) at Bielefeld University. Organizer is the interdisciplinary research group "Economic. Legal challenges in the context of "smart products". The conference will be held in hybrid form.
The researchers work on the topic from different perspectives. "The question of trust in this relatively new technology must be approached from the perspective of technical possibilities, the market, but also legal conditions and psychology," says economist Professor Dr. Herbert Dawid (Bielefeld University). He leads the ZiF research group together with the jurist Professor Dr. Sabine Gless (University of Basel). To the economist Professor Dr. Gerd Muehlheusser (University of Hamburg).
How systems can be set up to be technically secure and data-saving will be discussed in the conference presentations, as will certification options. "The question of how much transparency is needed to generate trust among users is not easy to answer," explains Sabine Gless. "Some accept data storage for more ease of use, and with them, awareness would first have to be raised that there are problems here. Others are very suspicious and demand strict regulations."
In addition, there are major differences between the devices and processes that are described as "smart". "A car that can keep itself in lane and collect data about individual driving styles is something quite different from an algorithm that could be used in court cases," says Gerd Muehlheusser. "It's another challenge to enable companies to share data with each other to improve their products without compromising data protection and corporate secrets."
What is certain, according to the researchers: In the long run, smart products will only be able to establish themselves if these questions are clarified and users can trust that they will not bring digital spies into their homes with smart technology or be confronted with secret digital watchdogs in the workplace. "With this conference, we want to show ways of handling the data that smart products generate and collect in a trustworthy manner," says Herbert Dawid.
The meeting takes place in a hybrid format in English. Journalists are cordially invited to report on the event. Registration is required at: [email protected]. The conference leaders are available for media inquiries.