In 2025, I will release my first monograph, after having undegone thorough academic peer-review. With this book, I’m trying to live up to the expectations of being a law professor, besides trying to say something useful. To this end, I try to use my skills in computer science in a useful way, aiming to make technical material available to non-nerds.
My book builds on my PhD research at the University of Oxford (which focused lots on privacy in apps) but goes much beyond privacy. It caters to everyone who wants to learn about the app economy in depth, and is driven by the question: how do Apple and Google use their dominance in the app economy for their bottom line, with what consequences for society, and how to respond?
Unlike previous work on online platforms, my book has a strong emphasis on the technical aspects of the platform economy, including how it helps Apple and Google get a competitive advantage in AI, healthcare, defence, electric vehicles and other sectors. An understanding of these topics is arguably more important than ever before. Despite a focus on technical aspects, great care is taken to make these topics approachable for those without a technical background.
Concretely, my book covers the foundations of the app economy, the legal framework surrounding platform power in the app economy, technical and legal research methods (including researcher data access under the 2022 EU Digital Services Act), and risks emerging from Apple and Google’s decisions as gatekeepers of the app economy. Risks covered include those to freedom of speech, privacy and data protection, the rule of law online, children’s and population health, innovation in the AI space and the green transition. Based on this, this book considers potential responses and develops a framework to understand the influence of Apple and Google’s platform power better.
This shows how lots of ground will be covered in about 200 pages. In German, we say ‘In der Kürze liegt die Würze.’ – the spice lies in brevity. Maybe, I’m not quite a law professor after all.
Get in touch if you want to learn more or read some of the book.