Women’s Health Rights can Guide International Climate Litigation: KlimaSeniorinnen v. Switzerland before the European Court of Human Rights
Hannah van Kolfschooten and Angela Hefti All over the world, individuals are taking governments to court for their role in climate change, or rather, their “climate inaction”. The 2022 Global Trends in Climate Change Litigation Policy Report shows that strategic litigation cases to enforce climate laws and policies have doubled since 2015.…
The Council of Europe’s Artificial Intelligence Convention: Implications for Health and Patients
The Council of Europe, the most important international human rights organization on the European continent, currently is drafting a Convention on Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law (AI Convention). The Convention aims to protect fundamental rights against the harms of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and is expected to become a global leading…
Five “Big MedTech” Myths about Medical AI Debunked
Criticism of the European Union’s AI Act by the HealthTech Industry is often based on incorrect assumptions, and is in conflict with health and fundamental rights principles, write Hannah van Kolfschooten, Janneke van Oirschot, and Claudia Nicastro. The European Union’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act is a world-first attempt to create comprehensive AI…
Health protection is non-negotiable in the AI Act negotiations
A health-centric approach to the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act is essential for the protection of health and fundamental rights of European citizens, write Hannah van Kolfschooten and Janneke van Oirschot. The European Commission’s proposal for an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act has been the topic of a heated debate since its publication in…
Call for Action: High Time to Prioritise Health in the EU Artificial Intelligence Act
Last year, the European Commission published its long awaited legislative proposal on artificial intelligence (AI): the Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA). Since then, a heated debate has been going on about its contents, as many civil society organisations believe the proposal falls short on fundamental rights protection. Various committees within the European Parliament have proposed amendments…
A Health-Oriented Approach to the Declaration on European Digital Rights and Principles
Hannah van Kolfschooten and Sofia PalmieriEurope is in the midst of a digital revolution transforming many aspects of daily life. In the healthcare sector, digitalisation may change today’s values and rights. Health tech developments range from relatively simple digital solutions—such as online appointment systems and digital health records—to artificial intelligence…
EU Regulation of Artificial Intelligence: Challenges for Patients’ Rights
In order to create a well-functioning internal market for Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, the European Commission recently proposed the Artificial Intelligence Act. However, this legislative proposal pays limited attention to the health-specific risks the use of AI poses to patients’ rights. This article outlines that fundamental rights impacts associated with…
How the Parliament’s AIDA Report Misdiagnoses the Risks and Benefits of Health AI
In November 2021, the European Parliament’s Special Committee on AI in a Digital Age (AIDA Committee) put forward its draft report on artificial intelligence (AI) in a digital age. The report advocates for a very permissive approach to the regulation of AI to stimulate innovation and foster the competitiveness of the…
The First steps in EU Regulation of Artificial Intelligence: Algorithms and Patients’ Rights
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare is becoming increasingly common. This development holds great promise for the quality and accessibility of healthcare, but is not without risks. On the one hand, AI has its advantages: it facilitates accurate diagnosis of patients and it makes it possible to hold e-consults.…
Conspicuous by its Absence: Health in the European Commission’s Artificial Intelligence Act
Earlier this year, the European Commission published its long awaited legislative proposal on artificial intelligence (AI): the Artificial Intelligence Act. With the proposed Artificial Intelligence Act, the European Commission has taken the first steps towards uniform rules on AI in the EU. The act aims to take a balanced approach to regulating…
Data Protection in Health Crises in the EU: Apps in the Battle against COVID-19
Mobile technology is increasingly being used to manage crisis situations, such as the corona pandemic. Apps process large quantities of personal data, which has consequences for the right to data protection. In the battle against COVID-19, millions of European citizens entrust Covid-apps with their sensitive personal data. To what extent…
Privacy Harmonisation in Times of Crisis
Hannah van Kolfschooten & Bastiaan Wallage On 25 May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) entered into force. From then on, the lawfulness of processing personal data within the European Union has been harmonised. The right to personal data protection, an important part of the human right to privacy,…
A Legal Perspective on Contact Tracing
Information for early detection of health emergencies can save lives. In the COVID-19 crisis, we see that national governments in the European Union (EU) turn to widespread surveillance and contact tracing in order to gather information on the spreading and risks of the virus. Contact tracing is the tracing of…
From Saramago’s Blindness Epidemic to EU Health Law
My interest in health emergencies was sparked when reading Saramago’s novel Blindness at age 16. It tells the story of a sudden blindness pandemic afflicting nearly everyone and I loved every word. Since then, I’ve seen countless post-apocalyptic movies on pandemics, ranging from classic contagion to zombies. I’ve played the…
Hannah van Kolfschooten | Digital Health Law in the European Union 