dr. J. Ausloos, Author at IVIR

Room: 5.08

Phone:

: Jef

Jef Ausloos is working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Amsterdam's Institute for Information law (IViR), where he is part of the personalised communications project team. His research interests center around data-driven power asymmetries and the normative underpinnings of individual control, empowerment and autonomy in the modern-day, largely privatised information ecosystem. Before joining IViR in December 2018, Jef was a doctoral researcher at the University of Leuven’s Center for IT & IP Law (CiTiP). He worked on a variety of projects in media and data protection law and in October 2018 he obtained his PhD entitled 'The right to erasure: safeguard for informational self-determination if a digital society?’. Jef holds degrees in law from the Universities of Namur, Leuven and Hong Kong. He has worked as an International Fellow at the Center for Democracy & Technology and the Electronic Frontier Foundation and has been on research stays at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society (Harvard University) in 2012; the Institute for Information Law (University of Amsterdam) in 2015; and the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law (Cambridge University) in 2017.

Publicaties

Ausloos, J., Sax, M.

Getting under your skin(s): A legal-ethical exploration of Fortnite’s transformation into a content delivery platform and its manipulative potential

Interactive Entertainment Law Review, 4 (1), 2021.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

@article{SaxAusloos2021,
title = {Getting under your skin(s): A legal-ethical exploration of Fortnite’s transformation into a content delivery platform and its manipulative potential},
author = {Sax, M. and Ausloos, J.},
url = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3764489},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-03-01},
journal = {Interactive Entertainment Law Review},
volume = {4},
number = {1},
abstract = {This paper investigates the ethical and legal implications of increasingly manipulative practices in the gaming industry by looking at one of the currently most popular and profitable video games in the world. Fortnite has morphed from an online game into a quasi-social network and an important cultural reference point in the lifeworld of many (young) people. The game is also emblematic of the freemium business model, with strong incentives to design the game in a manner which maximises microtransactions. This article suggests that to properly understand Fortnite’s practices \textendash which we predict will become more widely adopted in the video game industry in the near future \textendash we need an additional perspective. Fortnite is not only designed for hyper-engagement; its search for continued growth and sustained relevance is driving its transformation from being a mere video game into a content delivery platform. This means that third parties can offer non game-related services to players within Fortnite’s immersive game experience. In this paper, we draw on an ethical theory of manipulation (which defines manipulation as an ethically problematic influence on a person’s behaviour) to explore whether the gaming experience offered by Fortnite harbours manipulative potential. To legally address the manipulative potential of commercial video game practices such as the ones found in Fortnite, we turn to European data protection and consumer protection law. More specifically, we explore how the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation and Unfair Commercial Practices Directive can provide regulators with tools to address Fortnite’s manipulative potential and to make Fortnite (more) forthright.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}

Appelman, N., Ausloos, J., Drunen, M. van, Helberger, N.

News Recommenders and Cooperative Explainability: Confronting the contextual complexity in AI explanations

2020.

Links | BibTeX

Ausloos, J., Leerssen, P., Menezes Cwajg, C.

Transparency Rules in Online Political Advertising: Mapping Global Law and Policy

2020, (This report has been prepared by Carolina Menezes Cwajg. It was written under the academic guidance of Dr. Jef Ausloos and Paddy Leerssen, at IViR and the Information, Communication & the Data Society (ICDS) Initiative at the University of Amsterdam.).

Abstract | Links | BibTeX