Dear participants of CPDP,
Hi! I am Judith, a lawyer and philosopher from the Netherlands. This year, I will be present with The Digital Period at the Conference on Computers, Privacy, and Data Protection (CPDP) to talk with participants about period tracking apps. You can find me between 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM and 2:30 PM – 5:00 PM on Thursday and Friday on the 3rd floor at next to The Security Distillery, in the M-village (next to area 42). You can also reach out to me at judith@thedigitalperiod.com.
The Digital Period – an Open Conversation
The Digital Period is an open conversation about technology led by me. It is a public philosophy project that aims to include all kinds of people in conversations about technology. I am examining our relationship with technology through a series of conversations about period apps with experts and individuals.
I am also translating my activities into a podcast series. Curious how it will sound? The Trailer is out now, you can find it in your favorite podcast library. If you like to be included in the podcast, we can record our conversation at CPDP, but recording the conversation is by no means a necessary precondition to have the conversation. In the end, I’m looking for wonderful conversations, there and then, where we can think together out loud.
Thinking together about autonomy
CPDP gathers academics, lawyers, practitioners, policymakers, industry professionals, and civil society representatives from all over the world in Brussels, providing them with an arena to exchange ideas and discuss the latest emerging issues and trends in privacy and data protection. Therefore, it is the perfect place to meet people who want to discuss autonomy, technology, and period tracking apps.
Would you like to reflect on the relationship between autonomy and technology?
I would like to think about questions like:
- How does responsible technology look like?
- How should a privacy policy of a period tracking app look like?
- How can the human diversity that exists be reflected in period tracking apps?
- Could data collected by these apps be used for health research?
- What can app users do (technically, legally, ..) to make sure the apps they are using are more aligned with their needs and values?
Or are you conducting research on one of the following topics:
- Period tracking apps
- Self-tracking
- Autonomy and technology
- European Health Data Space
- Data solidarity/loyalty
- Quantified self
- (Social dimension of) privacy
- Surveillance capitalism
- (Alternative) business models
- Other!
Beyond data protection
With my project, I want to enable people to take an active attitude towards the role of technology in their lives. I want to help close the gap between those who professionally or academically work on creating or regulating technology and those who don’t but are impacted by technology every day.
I wanted to explore the relationship between autonomy and technology because I noticed that conversations about privacy and data protection often take an individualistic, procedural, and formalized approach. Value-based approaches to technology and privacy implementation have gained traction in recent years. Within this project, I am trying to make the polyphony of needs and implications visible by focusing on a specific application: period tracking apps, one of the most downloaded health apps in the world.
The meaning of a value, such as autonomy, and what honouring such a value requires from the technology, fluctuates. Technology not only impacts us as individuals but also as individuals with multiple selves (friends, daughters, colleagues, citizens). This demands a much more dynamic and fundamental approach to creating, improving, and regulating technology.
If you would like to be included in the podcast, we can record the conversation, but recording the conversation is by no means a necessary precondition to have the conversation. In the end, I’m looking for wonderful conversations, there and then, where we can think together out loud.
This is a one-woman show, and if you want to be sure to catch me, it is best to send me an email (or message me on Instagram). I am also organizing different conversations throughout the year, so if you would like to join the conversation some other time, that is possible too.
Hope to talk to you in Brussels!