Reference Center

Research Center Law and Investment on Future and Earth

The Observatory on Fairness and Autonomy in Digital Ecosystems (FADE) operates in the field of legal studies, with a focus on the transformations that digital environments impose on individual autonomy, self-determination and in terms of societal fairness at large. 

The goal of the observatory is to analyze the legal, regulatory, and conceptual challenges raised by the digital techniques most consequential for decision-making, including – but not limited to – mass content personalization, dynamic choice architectures, and addictive design strategies, as well as the normative frameworks through which European and national legal systems seek to articulate the principle of fairness in the digital realm. 

The Observatory adopts an interdisciplinary methodology combining European private and consumer law, law and economics, and behavioral and sociological sciences, supported by doctrinal, comparative, and experimental research tools. Its activities include research projects, academic events, public dissemination, and international collaboration. By integrating the doctrinal reconstruction of fairness with the empirical investigation of how digital ecosystems shape users' choices, FADE aims to strengthen the understanding of the ongoing transformations of digital regulation and their impact on society.