Malgorzata Cyndecka - WP leader profile

Background & identity

I am full professor of law working with the EU/EEA law at the Faculty of Law at the University of Bergen. I am also affiliated with the Centre for the Science of Learning & Technology. My research, teaching and dissemination activities focus on EU/EEA rules on State aid and data protection and AI. I am currently involved in four externally funded projects concerning AI: two Norwegian AI centres AI LEARN and TRUST, Layers of Trust in Education (EduTrust) and ENDOTRAIN. I am currently member of the Norwegian Privacy Board of Appeal (Personvernnemnda), which reviews complaints regarding decisions taken by the Norwegian Data Protection Authority (Datatilsynet), and the Council of Europe’s expert group AI & Education. I am also member of the Norwegian government’s expert group Bankkriseutvalget that is working with bank sector regulations in times of crisis. Previously, I was member of such expert groups that worked with revising the Norwegian Competition law, evaluating and reforming postal services and competition on a level playing field between private and public sector in Norway in light of State aid law.

Your role in EndoTrain

I am leading WP4, that is Ethics and legal aspects. Ethics and applicable legal framework are crucial for ensuring that digital health technologies are trustworthy, safe, and widely accepted. As regards DC14 and the applicable legal framework, the research will focus on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), European Health Data Space Regulation (EHDS) and Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), their coexistence and efficiency in safeguarding patient privacy and other fundamental rights and freedoms while facilitating ambitious and ground-breaking research leading to highly advanced digital medicine. Ethical considerations, such as transparency, fairness, and accountability, are equally important to build public trust, prevent bias, and guarantee that AI-driven diagnostics and treatments are used responsibly and equitably across diverse patient populations. and DC15 will develop an ethics by design approach for endocrine digital modelling.

Your perspective on the work package

The complexity of the relevant legal framework and its character of a “moving target” is a enormous challenge in itself. Applying it to advanced technology that rapidly changes almost every day is another one. Moreover, both law and ethics are faced with a number of consequences of processing of enormous amounts of sensitive patient data.

Working within a network

Being one of two lawyers in a big interdisciplinary network of experts in different fields will, hopefully, make me communicate my research even better than I do it today. Also, ENDOTRAIN will give me a unique opportunity to understand how law works or does not work in “real life”, in the context that I only know from a theoretical side.

Collaboration in practice

The collaboration within EndoTrain will undeniably provide many meaningful cooperation opportunities. Currently, I see them primarily within and across work packages, and with respect to secondments.

Supporting PhD students

Being a data protection lawyer, I am looking forward to hearing more about their reflections or thoughts concerning data protection issues raised by their research and discussing them.

Reflection (from your own PhD)

Not every day brings good ideas, and it is often really necessary to check every dead end to finally find the way out. Yet, this is exactly what research is.