28. April 2020

Nele Achten is a PhD candidate at the University of Exeter and affiliate at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society.

She investigates how international rules are currently protecting against threats of the integrity and availability of data and networks. Her research focuses on preventive obligation and the distribution of responsibilities between states and private businesses. Nele has recently worked as research assistant with the Cyberlaw Clinic at Harvard Law School and as consultant for the international human rights organisation Access Now. Her research interests and expertise span from international rules of cybersecurity to European and German laws in the context of information technologies. As an affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society she has founded and is leading a working group on cybersecurity: law, tech and policy. Prior to starting her PhD studies at the University of Exeter, she was a lecturer of constitutional and migration law for law enforcement officers. She is qualified to practice law in Germany and holds a LL.M. from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. During her legal traineeship with the German government, she worked at a variety of different institutions, including the European office for judicial cooperation in criminal matters (Eurojust), the German embassy in Colombia and Amnesty International in Berlin.