A 11 Initiative at the EDRi expert meeting in Brussels: How digital technologies impact our everyday rights

Nađa Marković, senior legal adviser as part od our A 11 Initiative, participated in a one-day “Tech and Society Summit” gathering in Brussels, co-organized by civil society organizations and EDRi – European Digital Rights.

The meeting brought together a large number of experts from organizations and media around the world, representatives of the European Parliament, and other foreign bodies, all focused on digital security and technologies that represent innovations in society – but also have a serious impact on the realization of human rights.

Nađa Marković took part in a panel discussing the impact of digital technologies on access to basic services, where she spoke about the negative effects of the digitization of the social protection system in Serbia.

She shared knowledge and experiences that A 11 Initiative has regarding the controversial Social Card Law, which has left over 44,000 people without social benefits since mid-2022. Marković explained everything we currently know about the publicly unknown algorithmic, semi-automatic decision-making process regarding social protection rights, and the documented errors in the work of welfare centers, all to the detriment of the poorest citizens in Serbia.

Marković also discussed the legal mechanisms that A 11 Initiative has initiated following the introduction of the Social Card Register to challenge these effects of the law.

Panelists agreed that the involvement of NGOs focusing on human rights protection and the examination of the digital sphere is essential for monitoring the implementation of new technologies in the public sector. The need to shift from systems of control and surveillance to those that prioritize care and social protection was emphasized several times.

The focus of all new technologies in the public sector must be, as Marković stressed, social care and a clear responsibility for the well-being of marginalized citizens, which is not the situation we have seen in recent years in the social protection sector in Serbia and beyond.

We thank EDRi for the invitation and the opportunity for A 11 Initiative to participate in such a unique event focused on the most important issues in our societies. We look forward to future opportunities to exchange experiences and knowledge with colleagues from abroad.

For more details on the Social Card, check out our specialized presentation HERE.

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