Companies like Facebook and Google make billions of dollars by selling or using our personal data. The data could be used by many different entities for many different reasons: from universities for research, to brands for creating targeted ads. But rather than just giving their data away to these companies…

Misleading social media posts are falsely claiming that the Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo uses facial recognition at self-service checkouts. Jumbo denies this, although it has launched trials with AI cameras to combat shoplifting without using facial recognition.

Bart Barendregt explains his new Unesco Chair in Anthropology of Digital Diversity in an interview on the Unesco website.

Hackers have got their hands on data from the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB). Lockbit, a collective of cybercriminals, is after the money. What now?

Today, CBS launches the Center for Big Data Statistics (CBDS), a cooperation of an unprecedented scale in the field of Big Data. Leiden University and HumanityX are key partners.

The increasing Technological opportunities of Virtual Reality (VR) increasingly resemble the real world (and more). In Japan VR holidays are very popular and VR porn is emerging.

Media outlets Investico, de Groene Amsterdammer and Trouw reported on the wide-scale collection by the Dutch police of personal data of demonstrators and their family members. Bart Schermer, Professor of Privacy and Cybercrime, commented on the issue.

The more people are vaccinated, the more society can slowly reopen. Technological developments, like the Covid passport and other apps, can play a role in this. Artificial Intelligence could help greatly in developing the vaccine passport and the Covid-19 exposure notification app, Anne Meuwese and…

Bart de Smit has been appointed to the position of Vice Dean of the Faculty of Science for four years, as of 1 January 2019. After Han de Winde stepped down as Vice Dean in September, De Smit already took over his duties ad interim.

This month, it came out that a subdistrict court judge used ChatGPT to formulate a ruling. The judge included some text generated by the popular AI chatbot in his decision. This resulted in a lot of media commotion, raising doubts as to whether using ChatGPT in court is permissible and responsible.

The EU proposal for a regulatory framework on artificial intelligence will not prevent the dangers of cybercrime or the spreading of fake news using ChatGPT. Cyber criminals can use the new technology to write harmful software, phishing mails and fake news.

Pavel Durov, CEO of chat and messaging app Telegram, was arrested in France last week. The Russian tech billionaire flew into Paris by private jet and was arrested on suspicion of cybercrimes. Telegram allegedly facilitates criminal activities such as money laundering. This raises the question of how…

Europe is working full steam towards a digital identity for every EU citizen. And although it might be really useful to be able to hire a car everywhere in the EU with no hassles, Bart Custers, Professor of Law and Data Science at eLaw, the Center for Law and Digital Technologies, sees many loose ends.…

The more people are vaccinated, the more society can slowly reopen. Technological developments, like the Covid passport and other apps, can play a role in this. Artificial Intelligence could help greatly in developing the vaccine passport and the Covid-19 exposure notification app, Anne Meuwese and…

Governments are increasingly cracking down on tech companies like X, Telegram and Clearview that flout the law, with a fine, ban or criminal prosecution. In practice, however, this has little effect. A tougher stance is needed, argues Bart Custers, Professor of Law and Data Science at eLaw – Center…

Here is an interview of Susanna Lindberg made in 2023 by Bart Buseyne and Paul Cruysberghs and published in 2025 in La Deleuziana: « Il va falloir inventer » – Susanna Lindberg en conversation

Bart Schuurman, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs in The Hague, has received a Veni grant which will allow him to continue his research into the radicalisation of terrorists for the next three years. ‘In order to better understand terrorists, I will focus on the large…

Frank Takes, Assistant Professor at the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS), analyses the flow of funds in our economy using big data. With Jort Kelder, he discussed the value and importance of these data on NPO Radio 1.

The Public Prosecutor's Office (OM) and the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) want to use private DNA databases for genealogical research in criminal investigations. The method could be used in serious criminal cases that have stalled and it is already being used in investigations abroad. Whether…

This August, the second edition of the Advanced Summer Programme

Governments have increasing amounts of data at their disposal. How can big data be used in policymaking? And are governments ready to deal with all this data? That is what Sarah Giest, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Public Administration, is interested in.

Burnout is on the increase. It is caused by group pressure, being ‘on’ all the time and asking too much of ourselves. Clinical psychologist Bart Verkuil advises lowering our expectations.

Audiovisual and Digital Ethnography is a state-of-the-art introduction to this dynamic and growing subject. The authors explain its fundamental aspects in a clear and systematic way.

By analysing the metabolism using big data techniques, we can identify health risks at an earlier stage. Thomas Hankemeier, professor of Analytical Biosciences at the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research, explains how that works.

Data science and statistics are closely linked, says Spinoza laureate and Stochastics professor Aad van der Vaart. We talk with him about the big data hype, genome research and collaboration with other disciplines. ‘Statistics helps wherever data is not perfect.’

Drs. Bart Lenselink won the oral presentation at the LACDR Spring Symposium with his presentation “Predicting Drug Potency”.

As of 1 July 2019, Bart Custers is appointed as Professor of Law and Data Science at Leiden University. The chair is established at eLaw, the center for Law and Digital Technologies at the Faculty of Law. Bart Custers will focus on the intersection of law and digital technologies, on the one hand on…

The Netherlands sees thorny dilemmas placed with regard to the conviction of returning IS fighters. The Netherlands, like the other EU member states, does not respond to the Kurds' wish to take back 'their' Syrian people. Bart Schuurman, terrorism expert, states that an international tribunal, flanked…

Professor Jan-Bart Gewald has been appointed as the new director of the African Studies Centre in Leiden with effect from 1 September 2017, for a period of five years. Professor Gewald will succeed Ton Dietz, who will be retiring in September.

A study has been initiated at the instigation of WODC (Scientific Research and Documentation Centre) on the judicial monitoring of big data applications by government. The study is being conducted by TILT (Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society).

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force in 2018. It was intended to protect the rights and freedoms of individual citizens from the risks of personal data processing. Meanwhile, the phenomenon known as big data has continued to advance at a fast pace. PhD defence on 12 Septembe…

eLaw colleagues Bart Custers and Helena Ursic have a new publication in the peer-reviewed journal The European Data Protection Law Review.

On December 4th an agreement was signed between the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) and the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI). Cor Veenman (NFI) will perform research in the field of Forensic Big Data Science at LIACS.

Reijer Passchier, hoogleraar digitalisering en de democratische rechtsstaat aan de OU en universitair docent staatsrecht in Leiden, sprak op 26 mei voor de Commissie Digitalisering van de Eerste Kamer, tijdens een deskundigenbijeenkomst over de weerbaarheid van de democratische rechtstaat in tijden…

As of 1 September Jan-Bart Gewald has been appointed as Professor of Southern African History in the Leiden Institute for History, in conjunction with the African Studies Centre, Leiden.

Tech giants such as Google, Apple, and Microsoft are increasingly shaping the digital world we live in. Reijer Passchier cautions: 'Urgent measures are needed to curb this influence.'

The book “Becoming a European Homegrown Jihadist” of Dr. Bart Schuurman, Assistant Professor at Leiden University's Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA), is published by Amsterdam University Press on 22 March 2018.

On the Day of Privacy, 28 January, the European Commission is calling on citizens to make sure they protect their personal data. But how do you do that, and against what, exactly? Privacy researcher Bart Custers explains.

Dr. Eduard Fosch-Villaronga and his supervisor Dr. Bart Custers received a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) fund for research on legal and regulatory aspects of healthcare robot and artificial intelligence technologies.

On 27 September 2019, Bart Schuurman, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs spoke to Dutch regional newspaper 'de Gelderlander' about the decline in attention for jihadism.

Very little is known about the relationship between religion and the digital future. Bart Barendregt, Professor by special appointment Anthropology of Digital Diversity, is about to change that. He receives a Vici grant of 1.5 million euros from the NWO for his research project 'One between the Zeros,…

The goal is to establish an intuitive search and querying service that allows researchers to quickly retrieve the most valuable digital resources, in order to allow them to integrate and synthesise the results into a coherent narrative of the past. The current focus of the project is to implement…

Stilzitten doet alumnus Bart Jansen niet graag. Zo geeft hij les in onder meer Nederland, Maleisië en Curaçao, houdt hij zich naast het recht ook graag bezig met kunst en mystiek en vindt hij naar eigen zeggen ‘alles wat fout gaat’ wel interessant aan de rechtsfilosofie. ‘Ik ben gek op veelzijdige mensen;…

Legal philosopher Bart Jansen teaches at universities around the world. In an interview two years ago, he spoke about his professional fascination for dictators and wars. Since then, the world has undergone major changes. High time for a follow-up interview.

Bart Schuurman, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, discusses the development of the exchange of letters between Mohammed B. and ‘prisoner X’ and the usefulness of a separate terrorist department.