Dr. Thorsten Wetzling
Lead Digital Rights, Surveillance and Democracy
Dr. Thorsten Wetzling heads the research unit "Digital Rights, Surveillance and Democracy" of interface. His research and advocacy focuses on different modes of access and subsequent processing of personal data by national security, law enforcement and defense agencies across Europe. Often this entails a comparative analysis of legal frameworks and accountability and redress mechanisms. Thorsten is founder of the European Intelligence Oversight Network (EION) which regularly explores new ideas and challenges for democratic intelligence governance in collaborative workshops with oversight practitioners from across the continent. Thorsten is also the co-founder and editor of aboutintel.eu – a European discussion forum on surveillance, technology and democracy.
As an expert on international security cooperation and the possibilities and limitations of data-driven oversight, Thorsten appeared several times as an expert witness in the European Parliament and the German Bundestag. Between 2021 and 2022, Thorsten assisted the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) in finding common standards for law enforcement and national security access to personal data in the private sector. Thorsten was also retained by the Council of Europe as a scientific expert to examine the scope of exemptions in the modernized Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to the Processing of Personal Data. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has also commissioned Thorsten to contribute to a comparative study on police investigative powers and their democratic oversight. Thorsten’s regularly publishes op-eds which have appeared in Der Spiegel, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurter Rundschau, Handelsblatt, and Zeit Online, among others. Since 2019, Thorsten has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Cyber & Data Security Lab at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). He was also a member of the Advisory Board Europe/Transatlantic of the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
Before joining SNV, Thorsten led a BMBF-funded capacity building project for European security research at the Brandenburg Institute for Society and Security (BIGS). From 2009 to 2011, Thorsten Wetzling conducted research on issues of governance in security policy at the French Institute for International Relations (ifri) in Paris, the RAND Corporation, and the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C. as part of the TAPIR Fellowship of the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik.
Thorsten Wetzling received his PhD from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva with a comparative study of the performance and reform of intelligence control in Europe.
Publications by Dr. Thorsten Wetzling
perspective
Informationsbeschaffung mit der Kreditkarte:
Wie nachrichtendienstliche Datenkäufe verfassungsrechtliche Mindeststandards unterlaufen
Corbinian Ruckerbauer, Dr. Thorsten Wetzling
May 28, 2024
perspective
Bedingt kontrollfähig: Warum der Unabhängige Kontrollrat einer Reform bedarf
Dr. Thorsten Wetzling
February 29, 2024
perspective
Zügellose Überwachung? Defizite der Kontrolle des Militärischen Nachrichtenwesens der Bundeswehr
Corbinian Ruckerbauer, Dr. Thorsten Wetzling
October 17, 2023
perspective
Mehr Rechtskontrolle wagen. Warum das Mandat des Unabhängigen Kontrollrats erweitert werden sollte
Kilian Vieth-Ditlmann, Dr. Thorsten Wetzling
May 17, 2023
study
Disproportionate use of commercially and publicly available data: Europe’s next frontier for intelligence reform?
Charlotte Dietrich, Dr. Thorsten Wetzling
November 17, 2022
study
Solving the Transatlantic Data Dilemma
Charlotte Dietrich, Lauren Sarkesian, Dr. Thorsten Wetzling
December 15, 2021
Other Input from Dr. Thorsten Wetzling
in-the-media
Bundeswehr eavesdropping unit operating on thin constitutional ice
Corbinian Ruckerbauer, Dr. Thorsten Wetzling
September 15, 2024
in-the-media
Konferenzaufzeichnung "Überwachung durch die Bundeswehr – keine Regeln, schwache Kontrolle"
Corbinian Ruckerbauer, Dr. Thorsten Wetzling
September 13, 2024
in-the-media
Data purchasing as a national security and privacy risk
Dr. Thorsten Wetzling
July 17, 2024
in-the-media
Europäische Nachrichtendienstagentur – eine gute Idee?
Dr. Thorsten Wetzling
June 24, 2024
in-the-media
Lack of authority? Buying information without a legal basis
Corbinian Ruckerbauer, Dr. Thorsten Wetzling
May 30, 2024
in-the-media
Keine Befugnisse? Informationskäufe ohne rechtliche Grundlage
Corbinian Ruckerbauer, Dr. Thorsten Wetzling
May 30, 2024
Events with Dr. Thorsten Wetzling
September 2024
Tuesday
24
15:00 - 17:00
(CEST)
Past
Workshop
Exchange on accountability in modern data governance
Corbinian Ruckerbauer, Dr. Thorsten Wetzling
September 2024
Wednesday
18
13:15 - 14:30
(CEST)
Past
Panel Discussion
Panel discussion on balancing security interests with privacy protection
Dr. Thorsten Wetzling
September 2024
Tuesday
17
15:00 - 17:00
(CEST)
Past
Panel Discussion
The 13th EDEN Conference on Data Protection in Law Enforcement
Dr. Thorsten Wetzling
September 2024
Friday
13
14:50 - 15:30
(CEST)
Past
Talk
Vortrag zur Überwachung durch die Bundeswehr
Corbinian Ruckerbauer, Dr. Thorsten Wetzling
Meet other experts
Dr. Julian Jaursch
Lead Platform Regulation
Corbinian Ruckerbauer
Policy Researcher Digital Rights, Surveillance and Democracy