Added value of providing user data for the personalization and individualization of media offerings (2023): Scientific support in the analysis and design of data protection and consumer-friendly, value-added, data-based recommendation systems in SWR online formats.

Providers of online media offerings are united by the goal of generating or stabilizing user interaction with their offerings. Strategies for achieving this goal include data technology-supported methods of personalization, regionalization and individualization as well as the use of recommendation systems. These presuppose that the service provider has knowledge of individual preferences, needs and usage habits in order to tailor its offering accordingly.

However, there are legal limits to this, such as data and data protection law, the law governing digital services and platforms, media law and consumer protection and fair trading law for digital products.

Public service broadcasting plays a special role in the online media market. On the one hand, its mandate and actions are subject to special regulation. At the same time, public service broadcasting is subject to particular social scrutiny: it enjoys a high level of trust among the population. However, the trust of citizens in the contribution-financed institutions under public law also depends to a large extent on their own compliance with the rules and their responsible actions for the common good.

The subject of this project for Südwestrundfunk (SWR) is the analysis of the technical and legal framework conditions for the use of data-based recommendation systems in public service broadcasting and the development of design approaches that enable the use of such procedures not only in compliance with the law, but also in a responsible and trust-promoting manner.