From 29 November to 1 December 2023, the MQ Libelle in Vienna’s Museumsquartier opened its doors for the International Conference on Human Rights of Older Persons 2023 (ICHROP 2023) organised by the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection. The conference particularly focused on the rights, challenges, and solutions for older persons, the implementation of the SDGs, and ageing in the digital age.
Presentation on the digital human rights of older persons
In addition to international government representatives and UN experts, our colleague Madeleine Müller participated as a panelist and gave a presentation on “Data Protection and AI Regulation – Examples for tackling normative gaps in the digital human rights framework of older persons“. Drawing upon current use cases, she addressed the fragmented protection of older persons in the current human rights framework and showed how the digital human rights of the elderly, such as the right to privacy and data protection, can be affected by the use of artificial intelligence.
Good Practice: GDPR and AI Act
Her presentation highlighted innovative solutions to strengthen the digital human rights of older persons and translate them into binding international standards, citing the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) as examples of good practice. Additionally, she emphasised the importance of a risk-based approach to ensure that older persons are protected in the age of digitalisation. She also presented the „Human Dignity by Design“ approach as a central starting point for international legislation in this area and advocated for human-centred AI applications that respect human dignity at every stage of their development and use.
An outlook on the future of human rights protection for older persons
The conference ended with the formal adoption of the Conference Declaration. Therefore, it not only provided a space for innovative ideas and solutions but also marked a significant step towards a digital age of human rights protection for older persons.
For more insights into the conference, kindly click here: https://ageing.at/en/conference/ichrop-2023
Madeleine Müller as part of the first panel on the topic: Rights, challenges and solutions for older people
© Clemens Manser Photography