Data Access Tutorial at ACM FAccT

ECAT will be at ACM FAccT - 2025, hosting a tutorial on researcher data access under the Digital Services Act (DSA). Find out more about the session below, and about the conference on the ACM FAccT website.

About the tutorial

With the Digital Services Act (DSA) that has been in the process of being implemented since 2022, the European Union has established a new and unprecedented set of rules for online platforms and search engines with more than 45 million active recipients within the EU. Designated as Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and Very Large Search Engines (VLOSEs), such platforms are obliged to provide access to data for researchers who study how online platforms may give rise to systemic risks within the EU. According to the DSA, systemic risks may for example include the dissemination of illegal content, risks to fundamental human rights, negative effects on electoral processes, or increased prevalence of gender-based violence as a result of the use, design, or functioning of VLOPs and VLOSEs. Importantly, the DSA invites researchers from anywhere in the world to investigate such risks and enables them to make formal requests to access both publicly available and private data. 

This tutorial is aimed at researchers who are interested in submitting such data access requests and will provide them with the knowledge to do so by introducing the relevant definitions and provisions of the DSA, and addressing the most important procedural steps to obtain data access.

The conference is taking place 23-26 June, and the ECAT data access tutorial is scheduled for 23 June, 13:30-14:30.