This event is co-organised by the Digital Public Sphere Working Group, together with the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies and the Centre for a Digital Society.
Regulatory sandboxes emerged in the context of financial regulation as a space for testing innovative regulatory approaches in interaction with emerging technologies in safe environments. Sandboxes were favoured during the legislative process of the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act, where the concept of ‘AI regulatory sandboxes’ was introduced as specific measures supporting innovation (mainly articles 57 and 58). According to Tambiama Madiega and Anne Louise Van De Pol, ‘regulatory sandboxes generally refer to regulatory tools allowing businesses to test and experiment with new and innovative products, services or businesses under supervision of a regulator for a limited period of time’ (Madiega and Van De Pol, 2022). While the promises that these regulatory tools entail are numerous, primarily for risk mitigation, concerns remain. It is not clear whether current sandbox technology can adequately detect AI risks, nor does it have solid methodologies to check regulatory impact. Moreover, potential misuse or interference with innovation cannot be ruled out, and it is not clear whether the fragmentation of the EU single markets will generate the necessary interoperability.
This event will study these and other issues with a special focus on sandboxing biometric technologies. Considering the intrinsic sensitive nature of biometric technologies, the data they process, and the risk their use might entail for fundamental rights, examining regulatory sandboxes in this context stands to offer significant insights.
Academics and policy-makers will discuss the challenges and opportunities the legal and technological construct of the sandbox raises as Europe gears towards implementation of the AI Act, using the Biometric field as a test case.
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