English: Session held at PrivacyCamp 2023 on 25 January 2023 at La Tricoterie in Brussels, Belgium.

Digital technologies are an inseparable part of sex workers’ lives in Europe, who increasingly rely on ICTs to engage in various types of sex work in a hostile environment that often stigmatises and criminalises their work. Digital technologies are utilised by sex workers to generate income, fend themselves against privacy threats and access important information to stay safe and healthy.

Moderator:

• Luca Stevenson, ESWA Director of Programmes

Speakers:

• Kali Sudhra, writer/ sex worker/ educator
• Yigit Aydinalp, ESWA Programme Officer
• Dr Elissa Redmiles, Max Planck Institute for Software Systems

Kali Sudhra started the conversation by outlining the context that the COVID-19 pandemic created for səx workers. Səx workers were faced with less space in their community, increased police encounters and more people moving online to do their work. However, the online environment brought more risks, including financial discrimination by platforms, as səx workers have to abide by the terms of service which are often discriminatory, require private info disclosure (e.g. PayPal). Səx workers also experience online censorship, a consequence of racist algorithms, meaning many cannot advertise services, pushing səx workers to the margins.

Yigit Aydinalp spoke about the role of private actors as enablers of harmful legal frameworks. In the Digital Services Act, the Greens introduced an amendment on non-consensual imagery, which means that hosts of content would have to collect users’ phone numbers. This violates the data minimisation principle, especially when working with marginalised communities. Səx workers were not consulted on this. In the Child Səxual Abuse Regulation proposal, we also see the over-reliance on tech solutions in response to another crisis, resulting in more surveillance to marginalised communities.

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PrivacyCamp is organised by European Digital Rights (EDRi), a network of NGOs promoting, protecting and upholding human rights and fundamental freedoms in the digital environment. Co-organisers are the Research Group on Law, Science, Technology & Society (LSTS) at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), the Institute for European Studies at Université Saint-Louis – Bruxelles (IEE at USL-B), and Privacy Salon.