Following the valuable contributions of experts to our Friday Sessions, PILPG-NL’s Virtual Human Rights Lawyer (VHRL) team organized three focus groups in June 2019. By bringing together experts from three key areas - Technical Development, Data Protection and Privacy, and Human Rights Community Testing - the sessions were aimed at acquiring critical and constructive feedback on the progress of the VHRL project from experts from different fields. PILPG is grateful to the experts for their time and efforts.
Technical Development Panel
The technical panel featured three experts from the Vrije Universiteit: Floris den Hengst, Charlotte Gerritsen and Victor de Boer. Floris den Hengst is PhD researcher specializing in artificial intelligence (AI). Dr. Charlotte Gerritsen and Dr. Victor de Boer are assistant professors at the VU whose research interests relate to social artificial intelligence and user-centric data science respectively.
During the panel, the experts made several recommendations regarding the scope of the project. We were challenged to take one step back and reconsider the problems that were desirable to solve, and the user groups which were to be prioritized. It was further considered whether these individuals seeking redress for human rights violations at the international level were local lawyers looking to expand their knowledge of human rights law, or civil society organizations assisting individuals seeking redress. The experts described how a modifying the target user groups would require significant changes to the interface and the platform on which the chatbot operates. As an example, Dr. de Boer highlighted his experience in West Africa, where (digital) communication had a strong spoken character. So, building a chatbot that operated through a phone line instead of an online application would enhance user-friendliness. Other topics discussed included the challenge of internet availability, potential partnerships for technological development, techniques to enhance user interaction, and cyber security considerations.
Data Protection and Privacy
The second panel discussion, on data protection and privacy implications, saw presentations by Dr. Mistale Taylor, Laura Andeweg, and Tom Paffen. Dr. Taylor is an expert in the field of data protection in relation to extraterritoriality and is a Senior Research Analyst at Trilateral Research. She was previously an assistant professor at the University of Utrecht. Laura Andeweg works as a consultant for Capgemini specialized in data protection and the GDPR. The third participant, Tom Paffen, works at the VU as a legal counsel for data protection matters.
The central issue for discussion was whether the VHRL should process personal data, and if not, how it was expected to ensure that the selections users make in the chatbot are secure and inaccessible. The session also raised concerns about the impact of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) on our partnership agreements, the choice of Telegram as the messaging platform through which the chatbot operates, as well as the organizational structure of the VHRL-team.
Working with Victims of Human Rights Violations and Community Testing
Our last panel focussed on working with victims of human rights violations and community testing. The panel brought together three experts - Nathalie Dijkman, Camilla Elphick and Laura van der Lubbe. Nathalie Dijkman is a specialist in law, development and entrepreneurship. In 2017, she co-founded SEMA, a system which aims to increase transparency and accountability of public services in East Africa by collecting citizen feedback. Until recently, Camilla Elphick was a researcher at Spot, an online tool which is used to report workplace harassment and discrimination, and a post-doctoral research associate in psychology at The Open University. The last panelist, Laura van der Lubbe, is an expert in the field of serious games and gamification.
The three panelists enhanced our understanding of cultural or societal factors which must be addressed or overcome in order to have a fully functioning chatbot. They drew attention to the issues that arise when using English as the main language of the chatbot. They discussed how English translations could miss the nuance of different local accents, euphemisms, and hybrid words. The experts suggested that this could be partially overcome by adding visuals and concrete examples. They agreed that the objective should be to create a respectful and emphatic bot as getting empathy wrong is worse than not aiming for it at all.
Through these panels, the VHRL-team was able to get immediate feedback on the progress of the project and implement this into agile working practices.