Professor Lilian Edwards

Lilian Edwards is a leading academic in the field of Internet law, since 2018 Chair in Law, Innovation and Society at Newcastle University. Prior to joining Newcastle University in 2018, Lilian worked at the University of Strathclyde from 1986 to 1988 and the University of Edinburgh from 1989 to 2006. Lilian then became Chair of Internet Law at the University of Southampton from 2006 to 2008, followed by Professor of Internet Law at the University of Sheffield, when she returned to Scotland to become Professor of E-Governance at the University of Strathclyde until 2018, when she left for Newcastle.

At the Turing, Lilian is a Group Leader on the AI Programme, providing expertise on legal aspects of AI, algorithms and the datified economy. ​Lilian’s research revolves generally around the regulation of new technologies but in particular the Internet, and the Internet of Things. In recent years Lilian has moved towards specialisation in privacy and data protection, especially as applied to AI and algorithms. Beyond privacy, she is interested in algorithmic transparency and justice; robots and autonomous/connected vehicles; and regulation of platforms, especially social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Lilian is a recognised expert in European intermediary liability and the E-Commerce Directive. She is currently looking at regulation of emergent technologies to protect public safety in the pandemic, especially contact tracing apps, immunity passports and social distancing IoT technologies; workplace surveillance, algorithmic hiring and the Internet of Things; and the regulation of "deepfakes" or synthetic data and media. ​

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