Program
Pre-Symposium Data Donation Sprint — September 30, 2026
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One-day hackathon at the Weizenbaum Institute to develop a community-driven web app for mapping and documenting data donation packages across platforms. Co-organized with the Data Donation Lab at UZH Zurich. Sprint results are presented on Day 2 of the symposium.
Start, Welcome + Introduction
Coffee Break
Start of work in tracks
Lunch Break
Continued work in tracks
Coffee Break
Summary Discussion + Future Governance
Official Wrap Up
Pizza Time + Hangout, Open End
Day 1 — October 1, 2026
Arrival
Opening Remarks
Lion Wedel & Jakob Ohme
Keynote
Jasper Tjaden
Break
Session 1: Study Design Decisions
Chair: Nico Pfiffner
Scaling up with Care: Participant Guidance and Data Quality in WhatsApp and Instagram Data Donations
Christine Kraus (Center for Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC), Bielefeld University, Germany), Olya Hakobyan (Center for Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC), Bielefeld University, Germany), Florian Martin (Center for Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC), Bielefeld University, Germany), Hanna Drimalla (Center for Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC), Bielefeld University, Germany)
The Role of Images in Data Donation Recruitment. Evidence from an Eye-Tracking Experiment
Elisabeth Schmidbauer (LMU Munich), Jörg Haßler (University of Oslo)
Data Donation as Citizen Science: Initial Learnings from 'Dein Feed, Deine Wahl 2026'
Sophia Graf (Weizenbaum Institut)
Tackling Barriers in Data Donation Workflows: An Experimental AI Intervention to Mitigate the Willingness-to-Donation Gap
Zoltan Kmetty (ELTE, Centre for Social Sciences - CSS-Recens Research Group, Budapest), Ádám Stefkovics (ELTE, Centre for Social Sciences - CSS-Recens Research Group, Budapest), Árpád Knap (ELTE, Centre for Social Sciences - CSS-Recens Research Group, Budapest)
Q&A Session 1
Lunch break
Session 2: The new kid on the Block - ChatBots
Chair: Anna-Theresa Mayer
Conversational Steering and Agentic Curation: Using AI-Chat Donations to Understand LLM-Mediated News Engagement in Belgium
Sarah Vis (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Daniël Jurg (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Ike Picone (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
From Prompts to Patterns: Linking Panel Data with Data Donations of ChatGPT Histories
Alexandra Wölfle (University of Vienna), Michaela Forrai (University of Vienna)
When Data Download Packages Fail: A Browser Extension Framework for Prior and Continuous Capture of LLM Conversations
Ericka Menchen-Trevino (Behavioral Research Innovation Center (BRIC)), Chris Karr (Behavioral Research Innovation Center (BRIC))
Q&A Session 2
Break
Session 3: Here to stay - Biases
Chair: Laura Boeschoten
Navigating Participation Bias in WhatsApp Data Donations: Comparing Design Effects and Social Selectivity Across Hypothetical and Actual Experiments
Jessica Daikeler (GESIS- Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences), Barbara Felderer (GESIS- Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences), Julian Kohne (GESIS- Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences), Florian Keusch (University of Mannheim, Germany), Henning Silber (University of Michigan, USA), Carina Cornesse (GESIS- Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences)
Who Donates Digital Trace Data and How It Matters: Representational and Inferential Bias Across Personality, Beliefs, and Skills
Ernesto de León (University of Amsterdam), Linda Bomm (University of Amsterdam), Fabio Votta (University of Amsterdam), Theo Araujo (University of Amsterdam), Claes de Vreese (University of Amsterdam)
From Willingness to Usable Data: Energy Insight Data Donation without a Dedicated Donation Platform
Joris Mulder (Centerdata, Tilburg University), Maaike Kompier (Statistics Netherlands (CBS)), Jeldrik Bakker (Statistics Netherlands (CBS)), Natalia Kieruj (Centerdata, Tilburg University)
Assessing Selection Bias in E2EE Data Donations with Federated Protocols
Nir Grinberg (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)
Q&A Session 3
Break
Session 4: Substantial Research with Data Donations
Chair: Axel Bruns
Socioeconomic Pathways to Obesity: Linking Supermarket Shopping Behaviour to BMI Using Probability Panel Data and Loyalty Card Data Donations
Hekmat Alrouh (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Stein Jongerius (Centerdata), Tom Emery (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
Real-Time Social Media Exposure and Adolescent Body Satisfaction: A Data Donation Approach
Christina Haag (MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK), Valerie Yap (MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK), Amy Orben (MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK)
Cross-Platform Data Donation in a Pre-Election Field Experiment in Sub-Saharan Africa
Morgan Wack (University of Zurich, Department of Communication and Media Research), Eva-Maria Vogel (University of Zurich, Department of Communication and Media Research), Christian Pipal (University of Zurich, Department of Communication and Media Research)
Diaries and Data Donation: How people encounter and interpret political information in real-life contexts
Tim Groot Kormelink (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Kasper Welbers (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Danielle McCool (Utrecht University)
Q&A Session 4
Break
Data Donation, Quo Vadis? The Future of User-Empowered Data Access
Data donations have become an important tool for independent research on digital platforms. By allowing citizens to voluntarily share their platform data with researchers, they provide insights into questions ranging from algorithmic exposure and digital well-being to political communication and polarization. But the future of this approach is uncertain.
The proposed GDPR Omnibus amendments could restrict the use of individual data access rights for research and thereby threaten an important foundation of data donation. At the same time, Europe is creating new routes for research access. Alongside researcher access under Article 40 DSA, the Digital Markets Act opens another potentially transformative avenue: Portability APIs can allow researchers, with users’ consent, to directly access their platform data. First projects are currently testing what this could mean in practice.
This panel asks what these changes mean for the future of data donation and for European platform research more broadly. How can regulation preserve citizens’ ability to donate their data for research? How platform-dependent are new access modes compared to GDPR-enabled data access rights of users? And what can researchers, policymakers, regulators, and civil society do to safeguard the use of data access rights for independent research?
Panelists: Finn Rübo, Theo Araujo, Lisa Sophie Markschies, LK Seiling
Moderator: Jakob Ohme
Self-paid Conference Dinner
Day 2 — October 2, 2026
Arrival
Opening Remarks
Lion Wedel
Session 5: DDP Quality and Augmentation
Chair: Felix Gaisbauer
Unfolding the Map of Social Media Data: Evaluating the Completeness and Transparency of Data Download Packages
Rianne Nienke Visscher (Barcelona Supercomputing Center), Andreu Rodilla (Barcelona Supercomputing Center), Wouter van Attenveldt (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Andreu Casas (Royal Holloway University of London), Asta Zelenkauskaite (Drexel University)
Linking Data Donations and Ad Libraries: A Framework for Studying Personalized Advertising Exposure
Joanna Strycharz (University of Amsterdam), Priska Breves (University of Amsterdam)
Putting self-reports to the test: Measuring the effect of Instagram abstinence on body image using survey and donated data from a probability-based sample
Daria Szafran (Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES)), Ruben L. Bach (Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES)), Frieder Rodewald (Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES)), Florian Keusch (University of Mannheim)
From traces to measurements: Utilizing digital traces donated by Netflix users to study video streaming behavior
Joshua Claassen (DZHW, Leibniz University Hannover), Laura Boeschoten (Utrecht University), Dennis Nguyen (Utrecht University), Bella Struminskaya (Utrecht University), Karin van Es (Utrecht University)
Q&A Session 5
Coffee Break
Session 6: The bigger picture - Standards, Frameworks, and Data Collection Approaches
Chair: Jakob Ohme
Toward FAIR Data Donation: Standards, Infrastructure, and Community
Felicia Loecherbach (University of Amsterdam), Olga Eisele (University of Amsterdam), Heleen Janssen (University of Amsterdam), Dachi Shanidze (University of Amsterdam), Niek de Schipper (University of Utrecht), Laura Boeschoten (University of Utrecht), Theo Araujo (University of Amsterdam)
Collecting Data Donations: Comparing the Download-Upload Approach and the Portability API Approach
Thomas N. Friemel (University of Zurich), Nico Pfiffner (University of Zurich), Sina Horner (University of Zurich)
Improving Data Donation Pipelines: Insights from a Comparison of Two Frameworks
Simon Kruschinski (GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences), Keerthana Karnam (MPI-SWS, Saarbruecken), Abhisek Dash (MPI-SWS, Saarbruecken), Sebastian Stier (GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences), Jessica Daikeler (GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences), Krishna Gummadi (MPI-SWS, Saarbruecken), Joachim Piepenburg (GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences), Felix Schmidt (GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences)
Towards a Netherlands Media & Web Diets Observatory: Opportunities and Challenges with Data Donation and Media Linkage
Theo Araujo (University of Amsterdam), Laura Boeschoten (Utrecht University), Sophie Ham (KB, National Library of the Netherlands), Joris Mulder (Centerdata), Tom Emery (ODISSEI & Erasmus University Rotterdam), Jessica Piotrowski (University of Amsterdam)
Q&A Session 6
Coffee Break
Sprint - Results + Community Space!
LK Seiling + tba
Closing Remarks + Followed by Lunch
Lion Wedel & Jakob Ohme