Privacy as personality right: why the ECtHR’s focus on ulterior interests might prove indispensable in the age of Big Data

Article 8 ECHR was adopted as a classic negative right, which provides the citizen protection from unlawful and arbitrary interference by the state with his private and family life, home and communication. The ECtHR, however, has gradually broadened its scope so that the right to privacy encroaches upon other provisions embodied in the Convention, includes rights and freedoms explicitly left out of the ECHR by the drafters of the Convention and functions as the main pillar on which the Court has built its practice of opening up the Convention for new rights and freedoms. Consequently, Article 8 ECHR has been transformed from a classic privacy right to a personality right, providing protection to the personal development of individuals. Apart from its theoretical significance, this shift might prove indispensable in the age of Big Data, as personality rights protect a different type of interest, which is far more easy to substantiate in the new technological paradigm than those associated with the right to privacy

The exposome in development and behaviour of inflammatory bowel disease

In this thesis, the role of environmental and lifestyle factors, the exposome, in etiology as well as course of disease of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) was examined. After development and validation of the Groningen IBD Environmental questionnaire (GIEQ), a large number of exposome factors was studied by comparing patients with IBD to population-based controls from the Lifelines Cohort study, identifying novel, modifiable, exposome factors possibly involved in disease development, among which prenatal smoke exposure. A large number of exposome factors was also examined for their association with development of disease complications such as the need for biological therapy, IBD-related surgery and development of colorectal neoplasia (CRN). Physical activity for example, was shown to have a beneficial effect, while a high visceral fat volume increased risk of disease-related complications. Also, this thesis shed light on the controversial association of the Mycobacterium Avium Paratuberculosis (MAP) and IBD. While using stringent criteria for test quality and repeatability, this thesis shows an increased use of biological therapy in those with a high immune response to MAP. Finally, cigarette smoke exposure was associated with CRN development in IBD with a clear improvement of risk stratification over the current surveillance guidelines used. These studies have once more shown the importance of the exposome, which offers the possibility of chance. An opportunity that shouldn’t be overlooked by researchers nor clinicians

Online tracking: Questioning the power of informed consent

Online tracking technologies have raised considerable concerns regarding privacy and the protection of personal data of users. In order to help users to regain control over their personal data, Europe has amended its ePrivacy directive towards an opt-in regime. There are however many open questions concerning its implementation, especially regarding the issue of informed consent. This paper explores how the new legal situation impacts on behavioral advertising practices via the storing and reading of cookies in the Netherlands. The results show that the majority of the surveyed parties involved in behavioural advertising do not inform users about the storing of cookies or the purposes of data processing of the subsequently obtained data, neither do they have obtained users' consent for the storage of cookies. We also found that the majority of users lack the skills and knowledge how to handle cookies. These findings critically question the wisdom of the informed consent regime which lies currently at the heart of Europe's ePrivacy directive. --Online behavioural advertising,profiling,cookies,informed consent,Do Not Track,ePrivacy Directive

Covid-19 lockdown loneliness and mental health: The mediating role of basic need satisfaction and the moderating role of age

Covid-19 and its lockdown measures, including social distancing such as curfews, quarantines, and stay-at-home orders have uniquely challenged people’s wellbeing and led to a variety of mental health problems. Numerous studies have been carried out to understand the effects of such lockdown measures on mental health. Yet, to date most of these studies do not assess psychological pathways and conditional effects. This study aims to add to the Covid-19 mental health literature by identifying relevant mediating and moderating variables. By drawing on self-determination theory and the psychosocial theory of development, the present study tested whether the relationship between lockdown loneliness and mental health is mediated via basic psychological needs satisfaction (relatedness, autonomy, and competence) and whether these associations are exacerbated for younger age groups. A total of 339 Portuguese residents completed an anonymous web-based survey during the Covid-19 lockdown in March 2021. The results corroborate a significant link between perceived loneliness and anxiety as well as depression. Parallel mediation analyses showed that competence consistently mediated the lockdown loneliness-mental health link. Moderated mediated analyses also confirmed that the psychosocial pathway applied most strongly to younger age groups. These findings highlight the role of social factors for competence need satisfaction and mental health among younger people and in particular during the Covid-19 lockdown in Portugal. The results also point to potential avenues for future prevention measures in tertiary education to mitigate the harmful effects that social exclusion can bring about.A Covid-19 e as suas medidas de isolamento têm desafiado o bem-estar das pessoas e levado a uma variedade de problemas de saúde mental. Numerosos estudos foram realizados para compreender os efeitos das medidas de confinamento na saúde mental. Até à data, a maioria destes estudos não avaliam percursos psicológicos e efeitos condicionais. Este estudo visa acrescentar à literatura sobre o covid-19 e o seu impacto na saude mental, identificando variáveis mediadoras e moderadoras no processo psicológico. Com referência a teoria da autodeterminação e a teoria psicossocial do desenvolvimento, o presente estudo testou se a relação entre a solidão associada ao confinamento e a saude mental é mediada através da satisfação das necessidades psicológicas básicas (relação, autonomia e competência) e se as associações são exacerbadas para grupos etários mais jovens. Um total de 339 participantes completaram um inquérito anónimo na Internet durante o confinamento em Março de 2021. Os resultados corroboram uma ligação significativa entre a percepção de solidão e a saúde mental. Análises de mediação paralelas mostraram que a competência mediava consistentemente a ligação entre a solidão e a saúde mental no confinamento. As análises mediadas moderadas confirmaram que o caminho psicossocial se aplicava mais fortemente aos grupos etários jovens. Estas conclusões sublinham o factores sociais para a satisfação das necessidades de competência e saúde mental entre os mais jovens, em particular durante o confinamento em Portugal. Os resultados apontam também as medidas de prevenção no ensino superior para mitigar os efeitos nocivos que a exclusão social pode provocar

Exploring individual user differences in the 2D/3D interaction with medical image data

User-centered design is often performed without regard to individual user differences. In this paper, we report results of an empirical study aimed to evaluate whether computer experience and demographic user characteristics would have an effect on the way people interact with the visualized medical data in a 3D virtual environment using 2D and 3D input devices. We analyzed the interaction through performance data, questionnaires and observations. The results suggest that differences in gender, age and game experience have an effect on people’s behavior and task performance, as well as on subjective\ud user preferences