Speaker Interview: Hynek Trojánek

Hynek Trojánek is the Spokesperson of the Czech organisation Iuridicum Remedium (IuRe), which deals with privacy protection, but also digital exclusion and the right to analogue.

🪩 DISCO:

What does digital sovereignty mean to you? How do you (try to) live a digitally sovereign life?

🎤 Hynek Trojánek:

For me personally, digital sovereignty is above all the right to choose the digital solution that suits me best – including a solution that is not digital at all. I approach technology the same way I approach transport: sometimes I take the metro, sometimes I drive, sometimes I cycle. But quite often I also walk. Sovereignty for me is independence from one solution.

🪩 DISCO:

As we witness rapid technological breakthroughs in the field of AI, which digital rights do you consider the most endangered?

🎤 Hynek Trojánek:

If there's one thing AI does affect, it's the level of personalisation. Already, what we have known mainly from social networks is moving into the service sector. However, some media are now also being personalised. It is the personalisation of news that I am personally most concerned about. It is the pursuit of topics that do not concern us personally that increases sensitivity and social cohesion. Especially at a time of climate crisis, we need to see the same world and not 8 billion variants of it.

🪩 DISCO:

What other threats to digital rights are you worried about? Do you have any insights on how we can address them as a society?

🎤 Hynek Trojánek:

Thanks to COVID, we are seeing an increase in cashless payments. We need the right to cash to prevent this massive data collection. Unfortunately, I don't currently see a strong movement calling for such a right. Alleged convenience and simplicity wins out over privacy concerns here.

🪩 DISCO:

How can events such as DISCO Slovenia 2023 help foster international collaborations and partnerships in promoting digital sovereignty and protecting civil liberties in the interconnected world?

🎤 Hynek Trojánek:

The main benefit of DISCO is that it takes place physically. It is the physical meetings that can lead to an exchange of ideas and opinions from which more widely articulated demands and concerns can emerge.

🪩 DISCO:

Can litigation improve our digital rights and make tech companies more accountable? Can you think of any inspiring examples of “the power of law” in the context of digital rights?

🎤 Hynek Trojánek:

Although it sometimes does not seem so, law still plays an important role and sets the rules of the game for all involved. In the Czech Republic, much is being written about the case of the antivirus company Avast, which sold its users' data. It is not just the amount of the fine itself, but the message that everyone cannot do what they want with data. This message resonates through society and has a significant impact on social attitudes.

🪩 DISCO:

What advice would you give to individuals on how to responsibly navigate the online environment in regard to their privacy and digital rights? Are there any specific tools that you would recommend?

🎤 Hynek Trojánek:

I like to recommend the tools provided by the Czech collective NoLog. They offer basically full-fledged alternatives to Google's services. Again: there is no need to use only NoLog services. It's important to see that other solutions are possible and that we don't have to depend on a few tech giants.

🪩 DISCO:

Can you recommend a book that we should all read before the conference, a podcast that we should subscribe to and/or a website that we should bookmark?

🎤 Hynek Trojánek:

Recently, I highly recommend the book The Future is Analog by David Sax. In it, the author describes how, regardless of the apparent move towards a technological future, our society is still primarily analogue and apparently nothing will ever change. After a number of depressing books on privacy, this is a nice change. Moreover, you can recommend it to anyone, even those not interested in IT or legislation.

🪩 DISCO:

Which disco tune should we definitely add to the opening party playlist?

🎤 Hynek Trojánek:

We are the Robots by Kraftwek.