The European Centre for Algorithmic Transparency] [1] (ECAT) provides scientific and technical expertise to support the enforcement of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and researches the impact of algorithmic systems deployed by online platforms and search engines. Launched in 2023, [2] [3] ECAT is part of the Joint Research Centre within the European Commission, working in close collaboration with the Directorate General Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT).
The ever-increasing societal impact of online platforms such as social networks, online marketplaces, and search engines has created an urgent need for public oversight of the processes at the core of their businesses. The automated processes deployed to moderate content and curate information for users warrant particular scrutiny, as they affect everything — from social interactions, to news and entertainment consumption, to shopping habits.
The DSA requires designated Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOSEs) operating in the European Union to identify, analyse and assess certain systemic risks stemming from the design and functioning of their service and related systems, including algorithmic systems. Moreover, they must commit to addressing identified risks, directly or indirectly related to the functioning of the algorithmic system in use. [4]
ECAT's mission is to contribute to the supervision and enforcement of the DSA in two core ways. Firstly, by providing technical assistance and practical guidance for the enforcement of the DSA. Secondly, by researching the long-running impact of algorithmic systems to inform policy-making and contribute to the public discussion.
Throughout its work, ECAT takes an interdisciplinary approach by integrating technical, ethical, economic, legal and environmental perspectives. It also engages with an international community of researchers and practitioners within academia, civil society, national public administrations and industry. Its ultimate goal is to guarantee that European citizens can navigate a safer digital environment. [5]
ECAT's work has three pillars:
1. Platform assessments and investigations
2. Scientific research and foresight
3. Networking and community building
The European Ombudsman is an inter-institutional body of the European Union that holds the institutions, bodies and agencies of the EU to account, and promotes good administration. The Ombudsman helps people, businesses and organisations facing problems with the EU administration by investigating complaints, as well as by proactively looking into broader systemic issues. The current Ombudsman is Emily O'Reilly.
The Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, formerly known as the European Community Humanitarian Aid Office, is the European Commission's department for overseas humanitarian aid and for civil protection. It aims to save and preserve life, prevent and alleviate human suffering and safeguard the integrity and dignity of populations affected by natural disasters and man-made crises. Since September 2019, Janez Lenarčič is serving as Commissioner for Crisis Management in the Von der Leyen Commission, and since 1 March 2023, Maciej Popowski leads the organisation as the Director-General.
Markets in Financial Instruments Directive 2014, commonly known as MiFID 2, is a legal act of the European Union (EU). Together with Regulation No 600/2014 it provides a legal framework for securities markets, investment intermediaries, in addition to trading venues. The directive provides harmonised regulation for investment services of the member states of the European Economic Area — the EU member states plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. Its main objectives are to increase competition and investor protection, as well as level the playing field for market participants in investment services. It repeals Directive 2004/39/EC.
Independent media refers to any media, such as television, newspapers, or Internet-based publications, that is free of influence by government or corporate interests. The term has varied applications.
The Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU) is a nuclear research institute in Karlsruhe, Germany. The ITU is one of the seven institutes of the Joint Research Centre, a Directorate-General of the European Commission. The ITU has about 300 staff. Its specialists have access to an extensive range of advanced facilities, many unavailable elsewhere in Europe.
The digital economy is a portmanteau of digital computing and economy, and is an umbrella term that describes how traditional brick-and-mortar economic activities are being transformed by the Internet and World Wide Web technologies.
Data portability is a concept to protect users from having their data stored in "silos" or "walled gardens" that are incompatible with one another, i.e. closed platforms, thus subjecting them to vendor lock-in and making the creation of data backups or moving accounts between services difficult.
The European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) is a group established on 16 December 2010 in response to the financial crisis. It is tasked with the macro-prudential oversight of the financial system within the European Union in order to contribute to the prevention or mitigation of systemic risks to financial stability in the EU. It shall contribute to the smooth functioning of the internal market and thereby ensure a sustainable contribution of the financial sector to economic growth.
The term digital single market refers to the policy objective of eliminating national or other jurisdictional barriers to online transactions, building on the common market concept designed to remove trade barriers in other commercial fields.
CIDSE, which is short for "Coopération Internationale pour le Développement et la Solidarité", is an umbrella organization for Catholic development agencies from Europe and North America.
Algorithmic transparency is the principle that the factors that influence the decisions made by algorithms should be visible, or transparent, to the people who use, regulate, and are affected by systems that employ those algorithms. Although the phrase was coined in 2016 by Nicholas Diakopoulos and Michael Koliska about the role of algorithms in deciding the content of digital journalism services, the underlying principle dates back to the 1970s and the rise of automated systems for scoring consumer credit.
The once-only principle is an e-government concept that aims to ensure that citizens, institutions, and companies only have to provide certain standard information to the authorities and administrations once. By incorporating data protection regulations and the explicit consent of the users, the public administration is allowed to re-use and exchange the data with each other. The once-only principle is part of the European Union's (EU) plans to further develop the Digital Single Market by reducing the administrative burden on citizens and businesses.
The European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is a space agency, managing the European Union Space Programme as one of the agencies of the European Union (EU). It was initially created as the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Supervisory Authority (GSA) in 2004, reorganised into the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency in 2010, and established in its current form on May 12, 2021. EUSPA is a separate entity from the European Space Agency (ESA), although the two entities work together closely.
ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency is a peer-reviewed academic conference series about ethics and computing systems. Sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery, this conference focuses on issues such as algorithmic transparency, fairness in machine learning, bias, and ethics from a multi-disciplinary perspective. The conference community includes computer scientists, statisticians, social scientists, scholars of law, and others.
Regulation of artificial intelligence is the development of public sector policies and laws for promoting and regulating artificial intelligence (AI). It is part of the broader regulation of algorithms. The regulatory and policy landscape for AI is an emerging issue in jurisdictions worldwide, including for international organizations without direct enforcement power like the IEEE or the OECD.
The Digital Services Act (DSA) is a 2022 EU regulation regarding illegal content, transparent advertising and disinformation. It was made to update the Electronic Commerce Directive 2000 in in EU law.
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is an EU regulation that aims to make the digital economy fairer and more contestable. The regulation entered into force on 1 November 2022 and became applicable, for the most part, on 2 May 2023.
The Artificial Intelligence Act is a European Union regulation concerning artificial intelligence (AI). It establishes a common regulatory and legal framework for AI within the European Union (EU). It comes into force on 1 August 2024, with provisions coming into operation gradually over the following 6 to 36 months.
Automated decision-making (ADM) involves the use of data, machines and algorithms to make decisions in a range of contexts, including public administration, business, health, education, law, employment, transport, media and entertainment, with varying degrees of human oversight or intervention. ADM involves large-scale data from a range of sources, such as databases, text, social media, sensors, images or speech, that is processed using various technologies including computer software, algorithms, machine learning, natural language processing, artificial intelligence, augmented intelligence and robotics. The increasing use of automated decision-making systems (ADMS) across a range of contexts presents many benefits and challenges to human society requiring consideration of the technical, legal, ethical, societal, educational, economic and health consequences.
The Regulation to Prevent and Combat Child Sexual Abuse is a European Union regulation proposed by the European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson on 11 May 2022. The stated aim of the legislation is to prevent child sexual abuse online through the implementation of a number of measures, including the establishment of a framework that would make the detection and reporting of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) by digital platforms — known by its critics as chat control — a legal requirement within the European Union.
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