Societal Challenges around Post-Quantum Cryptography
The development of quantum technologies raises important questions of power, ethics and policy, particularly with regards to cryptography. Personal privacy and freedom, economic and social equality, warfare and geopolitics are all at stake. Post-quantum cryptography has been developed to address these vulnerabilities, but companies, governments and institutions are still in the process of making their IT systems quantum-safe. The so-called “Quantum Threat Timeline,” “Q-Day,” or the “Cryptography Apocalypse” are known by experts but not by the general public. Accordingly, our panel will discuss the social, political, and economic challenges surrounding (post-)quantum technologies.
The vulnerability of digital society is in part the result of our dependence on data encryption, and concerns privacy in online messaging, browsing, data storage, signatures and identity verification, hardware and critical infrastructures, financial transactions and public services. During this event, different experts will evaluate policy proposals and research centred on post-quantum cryptography for preserving privacy, fundamental rights, and the digital infrastructures on which society relies. They will examine questions of EU law and policy, sovereignty, and governance. Ultimately, the panel will explore the high-stakes struggle for security in the post-quantum era, in which national governments, big tech, and the military are contending to become quantum-ready before any abuse of power arises.
Speakers
Matteo Fabbri is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC), working on the Quantum Impact on Societal Security (QISS) project, and a fellow at the Institute for Information Law (IViR), both at the University of Amsterdam. His research focuses on platform regulation, the ethics of digital technologies, and cybersecurity policy. His interdisciplinary background spans philosophy, digital social science, EU law and human-computer interaction.
Paolo Cirio works at the intersection of art, technology, activism, and policy. Using journalistic, scientific, and artistic methods, he translates complex systems and hidden forms of power into artworks that invite public debate and collective agency. Cirio has exhibited in international museums and his actions have been covered by hundreds of media outlets.
Joris van Hoboken (moderator) leads the Law and Governance of Quantum Technologies group at the Institute for Information Law, where he is Full Professor of Information Law with special emphasis on Law and Digital Infrastructure. He works on a variety of questions at the intersection of law and digital infrastructure, including quantum technologies, platform regulation, and the protection of fundamental rights online.
