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Konrad Kollnig (K.A.S.)

Konrad Kollnig is an assistant professor at Maastricht University's Law & Tech Lab (Faculty of Law), with a background in computer science (PhD Oxford). He leads the Comp4Good research initiative, an interdisciplinary research team dedicated to designing and governing digital technologies for social good. His work spans AI regulation, the impact of online platforms on society, and resilience in digital infrastructure. He has also been a mobile app developer for about 15 years.

Key questions. The problems I work on, across computer science, law, and society.

How do we build resilient and responsible tech? How do the GDPR and AI Act affect that? AI regulation is ambitious on paper — but does it work in practice? I combine legal and technical methods to find out. In RegTech4AI (AiNed Fellowship), I develop regulatory technologies to make the EU AI Act and GDPR work in practice. In CoCoDa (€1.2M SNSF), I build techno-legal methods to access platform data, with partners across the UK, Switzerland and the EU. Highlights: Stefano Rodotà Award 2024 and The App Economy (book released in 2026).

What's going on inside our apps? Is iPhone really better for privacy? Most apps quietly track us. I built TrackerControl (200,000+ downloads) to make that visible — an open-source Android tool that monitors and blocks hidden tracking using a local VPN approach and analysis of ~2 million apps. TrackerControl's blocking approach was picked up by DuckDuckGo for their App Tracking Protection on Android, now used by millions every day. In-depth coverage in The App Economy.

Should we ban social media? Or simply make our own weather? Rather than waiting for bans, we build tools that put people back in control. As CTO of the Reduce Digital Distraction (ReDD) project, led by Ulrik Lyngs, I develop open-source, privacy-first software grounded in 10 years of Oxford research. Related work: Right to repair for apps (FAccT '23), GreaseDroid (CHI LBW '21), ReDD Focus Android, and ReDD Block Android.

Policy reach. Research cited by the European Parliament, European Commission, OECD, US FTC, Nordic Council, Bundeskartellamt, UK CMA, and the Italian DPA.

Media. Featured in Forbes, Wired, Vox, TechCrunch, New Scientist, Der Standard, La Stampa, and Le Temps.

Awards.

Team. I lead the Comp4Good initiative with a growing interdisciplinary team. Meet the team →

Elsewhere on the web.