Developments in new media and communication technologies have produced new opportunities and promises for a better future. Yet these also bring numerous concerns related to personal, social, political and economic life. The Media, AI, Privacy & Surveillance expert practice (MAPS) examines these opportunities and concerns as social, political, and ethical issues connected to new media practices. The focus in this practice is on the proliferating use of artificial intelligence, everyday privacy negotiations, various forms, types and means of and for surveillance, and (cyber) security contexts and challenges.  

The MAPS expert practice consists of researchers with different international backgrounds and methodological approaches, encompassing research across geographies and in divergent economic, social, and political realities. It examines the experiences and activities related to the key topics of AI, privacy, surveillance and security developments in order to contribute to more empirically-informed assessments of new forms of digitalisation. Given that our reliance on media and digital technologies has become integral in (most) modern societies, these critical assessments are increasingly paramount. However, the expert practice sees it as crucial as well to envisage effective solutions to the concerns these developments raise and focus on flexible strategies that can be employed to reduce the more detrimental consequences of a changing digital world.