BLOCKCHAIN-POWERED CITIZENS' ASSEMBLIES

A NEW FRONTIER IN DIGITAL DEMOCRACY AND FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS?

Resumo

The advent of digital technologies has significantly transformed various aspects of human life, including the way we interact with fundamental rights and legal systems. This abstract presents a research project that explores the potential of blockchain technology in powering citizens' assemblies, with a focus on the tension between participation, privacy by design and the immutability of decisions. The primary objective of this research is to investigate how blockchain technology can be leveraged to enhance the functioning of citizens' assemblies, particularly in terms of ensuring privacy, trust, and the immutability of decisions. The research also aims to explore the potential challenges and implications of such a system for fundamental rights and legal systems. The methodology employed in this research is mostly of qualitative approach. The qualitative aspect involves a comprehensive review of existing literature on blockchain technology, citizens' assemblies, and the intersection of digital technologies with fundamental rights. This approach would involve a systematic search and analysis of relevant scholarly articles, reports, and other publications that have already conducted quantitative research on the subject matter, with focus on identifying and analyzing studies that have explored the use of blockchain technology in citizens' assemblies and other similar democratic processes. It would also look at research that has examined the impact of such technologies on fundamental rights, particularly in terms of privacy and decision-making, with a look into identifying gaps in the existing literature. The initial hypothesis of the research is that blockchain technology can significantly enhance the functioning of citizens' assemblies by ensuring privacy, trust, and the immutability of decisions along with their immediate implementation. However, the implementation of such a system may also present new challenges and implications for fundamental rights and legal systems. Concerns have been raised about potential challenges, including the technical complexity of blockchain technology, issues related to digital literacy and accessibility and the immutable nature of data on blockchain against the "right to be forgotten" (RTBF) of data subjects introduced in new data protection laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).