1. Introduction

This is a Cases and Material textbook curating sources on Data Protection and digital Human Rights law. The textbook aims at providing a “one-stop shop” for students, researchers and practitioners studying these dynamic areas of law. The book is designed and written primarily with students of the LLB programme in Technology law (Faculty of Law, University of Groningen) in mind. The need for this textbook as an educational tool came up when we (Dr Jonida Milaj and Dr Mando Rachovitsa) started teaching a course dedicated to Data protection and digital Human Rights law. We soon realised that there is no equivalent textbook in the market that places together the relevant sources in a structured fashion. Thus, we decided to cover this gap.

With that being said, this textbook is equally relevant to any student or to anybody who has an interest in these areas. It was important to us to have online open access educational material that can be accessible to everybody around the world and that can be easily updated given the quick developments in the field. The textbook is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. Finding sufficient openly accessible sources for this project (to the extent possible) had its challenges but it was worthwhile. We would like to thank authors and artists who gave permission to use their work.

The book can be read and used online. There is also the option for the reader to export it in a PDF format.

Part I on Digital Human Rights is written and curated by Dr Mando Rachovitsa (Associate Professor on Human Rights Law, School of Law, University of Nottingham). This part focuses on relevant Human Rights that have been affected by the development of technology and the digital society. Part II on Data Protection is written and curated by Dr Jonida Milaj (Associate Professor on Technology  Law, Faculty of Law, University of Groningen). In this part of the book, a shift is made from the discussion of human rights to fundamental rights. The focus is on the right to data protection. The chapters provide the relevant EU legal provisions and case law with a focus on the use of personal data in the internal market as well as their use by law enforcement authorities. The sources and materials presented are complemented with exercises and points for reflection. Furthermore, extra reading materials for in depth understanding of the topics covered are suggested.

It needs to be clarified that this textbook has primarily a European scope. This does not suggest in any way that there are no interesting developments in the areas of digital human rights and data protection from all regions of the world. We simply had to make certain choices with regards to the scope of the book also in light of space and time limitations.

For Part II of the book, we are in debt to our student assistant, Anastasya Lukmanova, for her hard work and creativity in designing and putting together the relevant materials in the format of this digital book.

We would like to thank Groningen University Press for their support provided throughout this project.

For us, this book is a living educational tool that exists in close symbiosis with the needs of the students. Feedback and suggestions on the book are always welcome and the authors would be happy to hear from you.