Force majeure impact on citizen science: Perspective from an EU funded project

Huma Shah; M Pocs; J Vallverdu; M Hinsenkamp; Tiberius Ignat; Maayan Zhitomirsky-Geffet

doi:10.12688/openreseurope.19184.1

Force majeure impact on citizen science: Perspective from an EU funded project

Huma Shah
, M Pocs
, J Vallverdu
, M Hinsenkamp
, Tiberius Ignat
, Maayan Zhitomirsky-Geffet

CEES School of Science

Stelar Security Technology Law Research
Autonomous University of Barcelona
Association of Hungarian Women in Science
Immer Besser GmbH
Bar-Ilan University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

BackgroundManagement of citizen science engagement during a force majeure needs very careful consideration in order not to lose precious time. This paper serves as a guide for pro-action in the event of another virus-enforced stay-at-home, movement-control order and presents necessary changes undertaken by an international collaboration during a once-in-a-hundred years' pandemic that reduced face-to-face public interactions. Overcoming challenges imposed under force majeure conditions, a citizen science project funded under the EU Horizon2020 research and innovation scheme SwafS15-2019, rethought experiential learning through volunteering screen time.MethodsMitigation measures, to limit the handicap of moving to online working reducing potential for learning through synchronous live engagement, included creation of an interactive multilingual informal five-step learning resource (CSI-COP MOOC: 'Your Right to Privacy Online'), adapting Greenpeace's 'Big Plastic Count' to an online 'Big Cookie Count' event, as well as webinars organised by project partners in their local language, Newsletters, provided opportunities for the general public to gain vital knowledge about protecting personal data and preserving online privacy.ResultsOver one-hundred and ninety members of the public who completed CSI-COP's MOOC with a certificate, participated in one-to-one online 'walk through' training sessions in local languages joined the project, through GDPR-compliant written informed consent, as citizen scientists. The acquisition of practical skills by these individuals enabled investigations of websites they visited and apps they used to record third-party cookies or third-party requests for personal data.ConclusionsThe effective reorganisation of CSI-COP activities to online, then hybrid once COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, ensured the expected deliverables were produced. Citizen scientists' contributions realised a searchable Repository of investigated websites and apps, a Taxonomy of tracking cookies, two policy briefs on improving monitoring of GDPR compliance, and Guidelines to address the 'legitimate interest' principle used by third parties to gather personal data online.

Original language	English
Article number	59
Number of pages	21
Journal	Open Research Europe
Volume	5
Early online date	3 Mar 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.19184.1
Publication status	Published - 8 May 2025

Bibliographical note

This is an open access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Funding

This project has received funding from the European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No [873169] (project name: Citizen Scientists Investigating Cookies and App GDPR compliance [CSI-COP]). This paper presents a case study of challenges and solutions to conducting citizen science research and innovation activities throughout a 21 century force majeure. During the execution of a project funded under the EU Horizon2020 \u2018Science with and for Society\u2019 (SwafS) theme (grant agreement GA 873169) ( , \u2018Citizen Scientists Investigating Cookies and Apps GDPR Compliance\u2019 ( CSI-COP ), restrictions on mobility and public gatherings in project partner countries seriously affected the organisation and hosting of the many planned face-to-face activities. Originally an eleven-partner project backed by volunteer expert Advisory Board members, CSI-COP project successfully concluded with nine partners, produced an extra deliverable in the form of \u2018 Guidelines for the EU on improving GDPR compliance \u2019, and an industry award for the \u2018 Best Innovative Privacy Project \u2019 in the inaugural Piccaso Privacy awards in December 2022. The topic of the CSI-COP project concerned raising awareness of the rights to personal data protection accorded in the EU\u2019s general data protection regulation (GDPR) among the general public. Additionally, CSI-COP aimed to informally educate volunteers providing them with skills as citizen scientists to join the project investigating the compliance of the GDPR. The investigations would focus specifically on the GDPR principles of \u2018transparency\u2019 and \u2018informed consent\u2019 in websites and app cookie notices, and in privacy policies.

Funders	Funder number
Horizon Europe
Horizon Europe
Horizon Europe	GA 873169

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

Diversity
Informed consent
Mental health
Transparency
Inclusivity
Websites
Apps
Informal Education
Pandemic Effects
Citizen Science; Covid-19; Cyberattacks
Digital Services Act (Dsa)
Gdpr
Legitimate Interest
Force Majeure

Access to Document

10.12688/openreseurope.19184.1Licence: CC BY

Shah2025VORFinal published version, 1.66 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Force majeure impact on citizen science: Perspective from an EU funded project",

abstract = "BackgroundManagement of citizen science engagement during a force majeure needs very careful consideration in order not to lose precious time. This paper serves as a guide for pro-action in the event of another virus-enforced stay-at-home, movement-control order and presents necessary changes undertaken by an international collaboration during a once-in-a-hundred years' pandemic that reduced face-to-face public interactions. Overcoming challenges imposed under force majeure conditions, a citizen science project funded under the EU Horizon2020 research and innovation scheme SwafS15-2019, rethought experiential learning through volunteering screen time.MethodsMitigation measures, to limit the handicap of moving to online working reducing potential for learning through synchronous live engagement, included creation of an interactive multilingual informal five-step learning resource (CSI-COP MOOC: 'Your Right to Privacy Online'), adapting Greenpeace's 'Big Plastic Count' to an online 'Big Cookie Count' event, as well as webinars organised by project partners in their local language, Newsletters, provided opportunities for the general public to gain vital knowledge about protecting personal data and preserving online privacy.ResultsOver one-hundred and ninety members of the public who completed CSI-COP's MOOC with a certificate, participated in one-to-one online 'walk through' training sessions in local languages joined the project, through GDPR-compliant written informed consent, as citizen scientists. The acquisition of practical skills by these individuals enabled investigations of websites they visited and apps they used to record third-party cookies or third-party requests for personal data.ConclusionsThe effective reorganisation of CSI-COP activities to online, then hybrid once COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, ensured the expected deliverables were produced. Citizen scientists' contributions realised a searchable Repository of investigated websites and apps, a Taxonomy of tracking cookies, two policy briefs on improving monitoring of GDPR compliance, and Guidelines to address the 'legitimate interest' principle used by third parties to gather personal data online.",

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author = "Huma Shah and M Pocs and J Vallverdu and M Hinsenkamp and Tiberius Ignat and Maayan Zhitomirsky-Geffet",

note = "This is an open access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited",

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doi = "10.12688/openreseurope.19184.1",

language = "English",

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AU - Shah, Huma

AU - Pocs, M

AU - Vallverdu, J

AU - Hinsenkamp, M

AU - Ignat, Tiberius

AU - Zhitomirsky-Geffet, Maayan

N1 - This is an open access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

PY - 2025/5/8

Y1 - 2025/5/8

N2 - BackgroundManagement of citizen science engagement during a force majeure needs very careful consideration in order not to lose precious time. This paper serves as a guide for pro-action in the event of another virus-enforced stay-at-home, movement-control order and presents necessary changes undertaken by an international collaboration during a once-in-a-hundred years' pandemic that reduced face-to-face public interactions. Overcoming challenges imposed under force majeure conditions, a citizen science project funded under the EU Horizon2020 research and innovation scheme SwafS15-2019, rethought experiential learning through volunteering screen time.MethodsMitigation measures, to limit the handicap of moving to online working reducing potential for learning through synchronous live engagement, included creation of an interactive multilingual informal five-step learning resource (CSI-COP MOOC: 'Your Right to Privacy Online'), adapting Greenpeace's 'Big Plastic Count' to an online 'Big Cookie Count' event, as well as webinars organised by project partners in their local language, Newsletters, provided opportunities for the general public to gain vital knowledge about protecting personal data and preserving online privacy.ResultsOver one-hundred and ninety members of the public who completed CSI-COP's MOOC with a certificate, participated in one-to-one online 'walk through' training sessions in local languages joined the project, through GDPR-compliant written informed consent, as citizen scientists. The acquisition of practical skills by these individuals enabled investigations of websites they visited and apps they used to record third-party cookies or third-party requests for personal data.ConclusionsThe effective reorganisation of CSI-COP activities to online, then hybrid once COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, ensured the expected deliverables were produced. Citizen scientists' contributions realised a searchable Repository of investigated websites and apps, a Taxonomy of tracking cookies, two policy briefs on improving monitoring of GDPR compliance, and Guidelines to address the 'legitimate interest' principle used by third parties to gather personal data online.

AB - BackgroundManagement of citizen science engagement during a force majeure needs very careful consideration in order not to lose precious time. This paper serves as a guide for pro-action in the event of another virus-enforced stay-at-home, movement-control order and presents necessary changes undertaken by an international collaboration during a once-in-a-hundred years' pandemic that reduced face-to-face public interactions. Overcoming challenges imposed under force majeure conditions, a citizen science project funded under the EU Horizon2020 research and innovation scheme SwafS15-2019, rethought experiential learning through volunteering screen time.MethodsMitigation measures, to limit the handicap of moving to online working reducing potential for learning through synchronous live engagement, included creation of an interactive multilingual informal five-step learning resource (CSI-COP MOOC: 'Your Right to Privacy Online'), adapting Greenpeace's 'Big Plastic Count' to an online 'Big Cookie Count' event, as well as webinars organised by project partners in their local language, Newsletters, provided opportunities for the general public to gain vital knowledge about protecting personal data and preserving online privacy.ResultsOver one-hundred and ninety members of the public who completed CSI-COP's MOOC with a certificate, participated in one-to-one online 'walk through' training sessions in local languages joined the project, through GDPR-compliant written informed consent, as citizen scientists. The acquisition of practical skills by these individuals enabled investigations of websites they visited and apps they used to record third-party cookies or third-party requests for personal data.ConclusionsThe effective reorganisation of CSI-COP activities to online, then hybrid once COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, ensured the expected deliverables were produced. Citizen scientists' contributions realised a searchable Repository of investigated websites and apps, a Taxonomy of tracking cookies, two policy briefs on improving monitoring of GDPR compliance, and Guidelines to address the 'legitimate interest' principle used by third parties to gather personal data online.

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KW - Informed consent

KW - Mental health

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KW - Inclusivity

KW - Websites

KW - Apps

KW - Informal Education

KW - Pandemic Effects

KW - Citizen Science; Covid-19; Cyberattacks

KW - Digital Services Act (Dsa)

KW - Gdpr

KW - Legitimate Interest

KW - Force Majeure

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DO - 10.12688/openreseurope.19184.1

M3 - Article

SN - 2732-5121

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JF - Open Research Europe

M1 - 59

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Force majeure impact on citizen science: Perspective from an EU funded project

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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Cite this