REPHRAIN is the National Research Centre on Privacy, Harm Reduction and Adversarial Influence Online.

Our Team
Our Outputs

About REPHRAIN

Researchers in Computer Science, International Relations, Law, Psychology, Management, Design, Digital Humanities, Public Policy, Political Science, Criminology and Sociology at Bristol (lead), University College London, Bath, King’s College London  and Edinburgh have teamed up to lead an £8.6 million three-year UKRI Research Centre of Excellence focussed on the protection of citizens online. This activity is designed to build and lead the UK’s world-leading interdisciplinary community on this mission and provide a clear single front door to engage and build capacity with government, industry and citizens.

Missions

REPHRAIN will address fundamental tensions and imbalances pertaining to protecting citizens online through three over-arching missions. We represent these as high-level dimensions:

Mission 1

Deliver privacy at scale while mitigating its misuse to inflict harms
Mission Details

Mission 2

Minimise harms while maximising benefits from a sharing-driven digital economy
Mission Details

Mission 3

Balance individual agency versus social good
Mission Details

News

August 21, 2023
August 21, 2023
Categories

REPHRAIN cited in CMS Committee Report on Connected Tech

The Commons CMS Committee has published a report on Connected Tech, which heavily cites the expert input of REPHRAIN researchers, covering the harms and benefits of connected tech, with particular attention to the debate around physical labelling of devices.
July 5, 2023
July 5, 2023
Categories

REPHRAIN on the Online Safety Bill

REPHRAIN have issued a press statement, amplifying an open letter from the broader community, calling on the UK Parliament to consider independent scientific evaluation before voting through the Online Safety Bill, specifically regarding concerns around privacy and End-to-End Encryption (E2EE).

Our Newsletter

The REPHRAIN Centre have a quarterly centre newsletter

This newsletter complements our social media accounts and is the best way to keep up to date with developments in our work and across the broader community.

Join the Newsletter

Online Harms

REPHRAIN’s Missions and Outcomes are derived from and aligned to two key outputs

  1. Online Harms White Paper (DCMS, 2019)
  2. Solove, D. J. (2006), A Taxonomy of Privacy, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 154 (3): 477-560

 

Online Harms Matrix

Cross Cutting Strands

Four cross-cutting strands – each with dedicated resources – transect the Missions to draw together and implement good practice in co-production, co-creation and impact at scale across academia, industry, policy and third sector

Design & Engagement
Engage users, technologists and stakeholders in participatory and co-design processes – putting citizens, their care and usability at the heart of outcomes across missions.

Adoption & Adoptability
Co-develop, with stakeholders, a shared understanding of the drivers and barriers to adoption of technologies and interventions at both the organisation and citizen level – feeding requirements into projects and aligning their outcomes to stakeholders’ usage contexts.

Responsible, Inclusive & Ethical Innovation
Develop a collective knowledge-base of novel and innovative methods and strategies that seek to orientate the competing ethical and political demands – encouraging cultures of accountability and responsibility.

Policy & Regulation
Bring together UK / international regulatory and policy expertise to develop fresh thinking on optimal regulatory modes and policy interventions to reduce online harm.

Strands Details