RegTech4AI: Ethical Tech, Law and AI
Konrad Kollnig is assistant professor at the Law & Tech Lab of Maastricht University’s Law Faculty and associate researcher at the Open Data Institute. Previously, he was a doctoral researcher at the Department of Computer Science of the University of Oxford. He holds a BSc in Computer Science and Mathematics from RWTH Aachen University (Distinction) and an MSc in Computer Science from the University of Oxford (Distinction). At Maastricht University, he leads the NGF-funded RegTech4AI project that seeks to combine computer science and law, with the aim of making AI regulation – like the EU GDPR and AI Act – work better in practice. The project is running for five years and has a total budget of 2.1 million Euros.
His PhD thesis received the Stefano Rodotà Award 2024 of the Council of Europe, which is the most prestigious award in his field of research and is awarded to one PhD thesis annually. His work has been published in leading academic venues, like PETS, FAccT, SOUPS, and the Internet Policy Review. His research has been covered by Forbes, Wired, Vox, Der Standard, New Scientist, La Stampa, Le Temps, TechCrunch, and other international media. He’s been selected for the award of the Future of Privacy Forum for the Best Student Privacy Paper for Policymakers 2022, and for the Best Paper Award of ConPro’23, a workshop on tech and consumer protection that is co-organised by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). He has also been selected as a member of the expert advisory bodies of the EU’s European Data Protection Board and the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), two leading European data protection and privacy authorities. He has previously been interviewed by the German and UK competition authorities on concentration in digital markets. Konrad led the winning team in the United Nations Privacy Competition 2022, ahead of 195 other teams worldwide. His work has been cited in various policy documents, including those by the European Union, the OECD, the Nordic Council, the Federal Trade Commission, the Bundeskartellamt, and the UK Competition and Markets Authority.
Konrad is the creator of TrackerControl, which is an Android privacy app with 150,000+ downloads. The app exposes hidden data flows from apps to companies. It is available in 21 languages thanks to the help of the TrackerControl community. Konrad also helped found a LegalTech startup that is funded by the Alchemist Accelerator (2–3% acceptance rate). You can find more of Konrad’s projects under ‘Projects’.
More generally, Konrad is interested in how we can live in more peace with technology. This is what this blog has been exploring for a couple of years now. Contact details (including Twitter and Email) are in the icons below. If you ever need to, feel free to copy and change as much text of this research profile as you want.