Rosamunde Van Brakel
@rosamundevb.bsky.social
assistant prof/senior postdoc criminology VUB/substitute lecturer KULeuven - research: digital & green criminology, surveillance, AI, youth justice, human rights https://researchportal.vub.be/en/persons/rosamunde-elise-van-brakel
We finally received the exciting news that our digital criminology working group @esc-eurocrim.bsky.social has been approved 🥳 We will be communicating about this soon. If you are interested but haven’t been in contact with us yet please do and I will add you to our mailing list! #criminology
JOBS (×2): full-time, permanent Assistant Professors at Institute of #Criminology, University of Cambridge They're seeking applicants with a focus on: ▪︎ Interventions and Evaluations (broadly defined), or ▪︎ Crime and Criminal Justice Policy (broadly defined) #CrimSky www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DTL934/u...
University Assistant Professor at University of Cambridge
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jobs.ac.uk
UK Immigration Enforcement will be able to deploy live facial recognition (LFR) technology outside of border zones to look for people who have never committed a criminal offence, prompting concern from digital rights groups about surveillance overreach. www.computerweekly.com/news/3666531...
UK extends facial recognition to civil immigration offences | Computer Weekly
UK Immigration Enforcement is set to start deploying live facial recognition (LFR) technology, but critics are concerned about the expansion of its biometric surveillance into non-criminal matters awa...
computerweekly.com
Losing important devices is not an achievement that's exclusive to GCHQ. Myriad stories like this have emerged from all corners of the public sector over the years... www.theregister.com/security/202...
British intelligence agency misplaced 'thousands' of storage devices, years later still can't say how many
Other agency errors included an unchecked software bug that led to Terrorism Act detentions
theregister.com
Also students taking fragments of recordings and putting it onto TikTok 😞
Andrew Defty@adefty.bsky.social · 3d ago
France braces for third Saturday of protests as interior minister warns of street violence on Halloween
France braces for third Saturday of protests as interior minister warns of street violence on Halloween
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned of a 'very high risk' of disorder, especially after dark on Halloween.
lemonde.fr
Show me the most Belgian thing you have on your phone. Here is my offering.
CJ@mateloos.be · 3d agoShow me the most Belgian thing you have on your phone. Here is my offering.
Electrocutions, ‘mental terror’ and withheld wages: The exploited workers building Europe’s data centres www.investigate-europe.eu/posts/electr...
Electrocutions, ‘mental terror’ and withheld wages: the exploited workers building Europe’s data centres
A five-month investigation by Investigate Europe and media partners in nine countries reveals the harsh realities facing some working on the continent's vast AI infrastructure developments.
investigate-europe.eu
Bad governance: "The Court of Auditors points out that no clear milestones were defined and that the police had already commissioned follow-up projects worth tens of millions of euros, even before the pilot projects had been completed and evaluated." www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/20...
Failed i-Police project cost the taxpayer over 139 million euros | VRT NWS: news
I-Police, the police force’s failed digitalisation project, cost 139.4 million euros of taxpayers’ money. That is almost double the 76 million euros previously reported, according to a report by the C...
vrt.be
Happy to see an updated version out of my chapter "Rethinking predictive policing. Towards a holistic framework of democratic algorithmic surveillance" in the second edition of The Algorithmic Society edited by @marcschuilenburg.bsky.social and Rik Peeters! www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edi...
Rethinking predictive policing | 10 | v2 | Towards a holistic framewor
New algorithmic technologies are reshaping policing practices and criminal justice in general. However, are they reshaping these practices in effective and
taylorfrancis.com
Geflopt politieproject i-Police kostte belastingbetaler ruim 139 miljoen euro, bijna dubbel zoveel als gedacht vrtnws.be/p.APQP43k3D?t=179... @vrtnws.be
Geflopt politieproject i-Police kostte belastingbetaler ruim 139 miljoen euro, bijna dubbel zoveel als gedacht
vrtnws.be
Wolves Descend on Finnish Villages After Google Hacked Down 1,300 Acres of Habitat to Make Room for AI Data Centers futurism.com/future-socie...
Wolves Descend on Finnish Villages After Google Hacked Down 1,300 Acres of Habitat to Make Room for AI Data Centers
Google's cut-first pay-later approach to Finland's boreal forests is leaving wild fauna without a place to call home.
futurism.com
The question that needs to be asked is why is this the way to go and how is this legitimate policing considering that there is still no convincing scientific evidence that predictive policing works, nor that safeguards work while potential harms are clear www.bbc.com/news/article...
Solar has overtaken nuclear. A decade ago it supplied 1% of the world's power. In 2025 it met three quarters of global demand growth. Almost nobody saw it coming. I spoke to Jocelyn Timperley at BBC Future about why. www.bbc.co.uk/future/artic...
'It's offensively cheap': How solar power is quietly becoming bigger than nuclear
After defying projections, solar's dramatic growth means it is overtaking nuclear as a global power source. Here are seven reasons for solar's success, and where it might go from here.
bbc.co.uk
Geen camera’s meer, maar sensoren. Maar wat is er gebeurd met de resultaten van het vorige project met ‘AI’ camera’s voor het monitoren van sportgedrag bij Bruul en Philipssite en is hier een evaluatie van gedaan? #Leuven nieuws.leuven.be/sportparkmon...
Sportparkmonitor geeft uniek inzicht in gebruik van Leuvense sport- en beweegruimtes
Sport Vlaanderen en stad Leuven starten met de steun van VLAIO/PIO een innovatief monitoringsproject in Leuven dat het gebruik van publieke sport...
nieuws.leuven.be
Happy to be at the University of Oslo this week for a workshop on ocean governance organised by Randi Solhjell where I will present my paper with @nan-knust.bsky.social on reimagining crime control governance of fisheries crime through a more-than-human approach to achieve ocean justice !
“This gives the company an advantage in tracking objects in orbit, raising national security concerns and fears of greater control over the space industry” www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
US military gives Elon Musk’s SpaceX access to sensitive tracking data
This gives the company an advantage in tracking objects in orbit, raising national security concerns and fears of greater control over the space industry
theguardian.com
Vučić’s defeat is, following Orbán’s, another electoral earthquake in south-eastern Europe that will reverberate well beyond the country’s borders.
Serbia follows Hungary in showing the power of the people
Anger at corruption and an unaccountable government turned the country decisively against autocratic leader Aleksandar Vučić
ft.com
The ocean gives us food, oxygen, livelihoods, and climate regulation. But it’s under threat from overfishing, climate change, pollution, and habitat loss. When our ocean is in crisis, so are we. Protecting it means protecting life itself. Learn more: https://ow.ly/R3CQ5100pkP
“When I said I wanted to save London, I meant it. I will not stop until every single bit of trash is off the streets,” www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
He wants to clean up the city and banish high prices. But who is ‘London’s Batman’?
The caped crusader is paying for hospital parking fines, giving out fuel to drivers – and sponsoring the return of cut-price Freddo bars
theguardian.com
New: AI is making it so much easier for hackers to discover serious vulnerabilities. This applies both to people with little skill, and researchers with a lot of expertise. If you can't accept AI is exceptional at finding critical bugs, you're not living in reality www.404media.co/php2shell-bl...
AI Is Changing Everything About Hacking. No One Knows What Happens Next
'Black October:' The PHP vulnerabilities and a series of other hacks and bugs have cybersecurity experts freaking out and unsure what happens next.
404media.co
Behind a wire fence lies a vast gaping wound of earth. Before Google’s arrival a few months ago, an estimated quarter of a million trees occupied the 330 hectares (815 acres) of forest near the town of Muhos in rural northern Finland. Now they are all gone. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘Pure arrogance’: anger in Finland as Google illegally fells 250,000 trees for datacentre
Company ordered to stop work at two sites in country, which has found itself at forefront of tech firms’ latest push
theguardian.com
Dit instituut schiet m.i. zwaar tekort door enkel op existentiële risico’s te focussen. Wat nodig is om onderzoek naar AI safety vooruit te doen gaan en beleid te informeren is de huidige risico’s - die veel verder gaan dan enkel bias en privacy - te onderzoeken in tandem met toekomstige risico’s.
Rosamunde Van Brakel@rosamundevb.bsky.social · 2w agoEen publiek debat is nodig maar niet over dit instituut specifiek wel over hoe onderzoek gefinancierd wordt en kwaliteitsbewaking. Onderzoek wordt al lang gefinancierd door belangengroepen en dit zal enkel maar toenemen met de zware bezuinigingen door de Vlaamse overheid. www.tijd.be/opinie/algem...
Een publiek debat is nodig maar niet over dit instituut specifiek wel over hoe onderzoek gefinancierd wordt en kwaliteitsbewaking. Onderzoek wordt al lang gefinancierd door belangengroepen en dit zal enkel maar toenemen met de zware bezuinigingen door de Vlaamse overheid. www.tijd.be/opinie/algem...
Wie bepaalt de agenda van het AI Safety Lab aan de KU Leuven?
Natuurlijk brengt krachtige AI risico’s mee, en dat levert relevante onderzoeksvragen op. Maar critici wijzen erop dat de focus op het einde van de mensheid de aandacht afleidt van de problemen die AI...
tijd.be
The chance to keep global warming below 1.5°C with no overshoot is gone. But urgent action can still limit the overshoot and bring warming back to 1.5°C by 2100. Current policies, however, put the 🌎 on course for up to 2.8°C this century. New #EmissionsGap Report: https://ow.ly/SNHX50ZZz8l
Terwijl er niet wordt geïnvesteerd in expertise en middelen in preventie en sociale veiligheid 🧐 Niemand die de vraag stelt waarom die relschoppers rel zoeken… www.demorgen.be/nieuws/een-n...
Een nieuwe rijkswacht tegen relschoppers? Experts zien vooral problemen bij opleiding van politie
Minister van Defensie Theo Francken (N-VA) droomt van een rijkswacht 2.0. Dankzij de militaire vorming zou zo’n korps korte metten maken met stedelijke relschoppers. Maar experts hebben hun twijfels.
demorgen.be
Will we see a new political coalition of the poets and the mathematicians? A kind of public assembly in defence of an unmarked human right to find beauty in the world that is not merely an output.
