Dr Cristiana Santos

Dr Santos co-authored the 2023 Legal Enforcement Database (Leiser, Santos & Doshi, 2023), which forms the basis of the Laws and Enforcement listings on this site.

In addition to her work as a professor at Utrecht University, Dr. Santos is an expert of the Data Protection Unit, Council of Europe; expert for the implementation of the EDPB’s Support Pool of Experts; and expert of the Digital Persuasion or Manipulation Expert Group.

Cristiana investigates dark patterns and addictive design from an interdisciplinary perspective, combining law, computer science, human computer interaction and behavioral science to understand the effect these practices have on both users and developers.

Her work supports enforcers of the GDPR, UCPD, DSA, consumer organisations, and civil society in understanding and enforcing dark pattern practices. She has been cited in official guidelines, policy reports, regulatory decisions, and enforcement cases and is also used by stakeholders in ongoing regulatory and advocacy work.