About STeP

Main lines of research

Due to globalisation and emerging technologies, most of our lives are organised online. We use the latest technologies in our daily lives to work, communicate, share and store information, conduct our business, etc. As a consequence, we are faced with new challenges. The 'Security, Technology and e-Privacy (STeP) Research Group', is an interdisciplinary team of researchers – from early stage researchers to advanced researchers – organised within the Department of Transboundary Legal Studies (TLS). As can be derived from the name, the STeP Research Group is involved in research in three main areas in their broadest sense which are very much inter-related: security, technology and privacy. STeP’s experience and expertise includes for example:

In the area of Security:

• Radicalisation
• Community policing
• Disaster management
• Surveillance
• Electronic evidence

In the area of Technology:

• Technology and law
• Technology and society
• Voice recognition and biometric data
• Self-driving vehicles
• Health informatics

In the area of Data Protection and Privacy

• Online privacy and consent
• Online surveillance
• Health data
• All of the abovementioned areas and more

These areas are however never stand-alone, they are very much inter-related. While electronic evidence for example may be primarily classified under security – technological and data protection aspects are also crucial in this area. And although the emphasis may be on the legal perspective, much attention is also paid to the practical applicability of topics, both technical and operational.

Featured themes

Electronic evidence
With various closed and ongoing projects as experience and expertise, electronic evidence (in criminal cases) is one of STeP’s featured themes. Knowledge in this area includes the legal, technical and operational aspects of the collection, preservation, use and (cross-border) exchange of electronic evidence and how to deal with specific technologies such as voice recognition and biometric data and with specific types of crime, such as cybercrimes.

Cooperation

STeP is involved in various projects, both as a coordinator and as a partner, on a national and international level together with various universities, research institutions, tech-companies, police forces, NGOs, and more. STeP currently coordinates the Cybersecurity Noord-Nederland project funded by Provincie Groningen and the Marie Skłodowska Curie Action ESSENTIAL (Evolving Security SciencE through Networked Technologies, Information policy And Law) and participates in several other European funded projects.