Dr Eliza Watt is a researcher and Senior Lecturer in law at Middlesex University, London; a visiting lecturer at the British Law Centre, University of Warsaw, Poland and a guest speaker at College of Information and Cyberspace, National Defense University, Washington D.C., USA. Prior to joining the Law School Dr Watt was a lecturer at Bournemouth University, Dorset and a visiting lecturer at the School of Law, University of Westminster, London.
She obtained LL.B., LL.M., L.LM and PhD degrees from King's College London and University of Westminster. She is also a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy and non-practicing barrister called to the Bar of England and Wales at the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, with legal consultancy experience in commercial, environmental, licencing and employment related matters.
She has taught at postgraduate and undergraduate levels a variety of commercial and other law courses, including Law of the International Sale of Goods, International Commercial Litigation and Arbitration, English and International Commercial Law, Tort Law, Contract Law and English Legal System. She has module leadership responsibilities for two postgraduate and one undergraduate course.
Dr Watt’s research is in the area of international law and states’ low level cyber operations, focusing on cyber surveillance and human rights. Her current book is titled, State Sponsored Cyber Surveillance. The Right to Privacy of Communications and International Law (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021). She has published her work in peer-reviewed journals and other publications, including Journal of Conflict and Security Law, The International Journal of Human Rights and NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence Publications (NATO CCDCOE). She contributed to the 2018 UN 'Report on the UN Group of Government Experts 2015 Cyber Norms, Recommendation 13(e)' and to the 2019 European Parliament Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value Scientific Foresight Unit's Project, 'Workplace Monitoring/Surveillance in the Digital Era and Its Implications for Workers' Privacy and Data Protection'. Her shorter publication include blog posts for the Verfassunsblog, The Strasbourg Observers, and The Conversation.
She presented her research at a number of international conferences, including NATO 2017 9th International Conference on Cyber Conflict: Defending the Core. She also acts as a peer reviewer for The Oxford Journal of Legal Studies and The International Journal of Human Rights in the field of human rights and mass surveillance.
She is a member of the Bar Council of England and Wales, the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, The Society of Legal Scholars, The British Institute of International and Comparative Law and the UK Higher Education Academy.
Qualifications
Current Teaching Responsibilities
Module Leadership Responsabilities
Dr Watt's area of research relates to cyber law, in particular state sponsored cyber surveillance and international human rights, focusing on the right to privacy of communications. She was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy for her PhD thesis titled, Cyberspace, Surveillance, Law and Privacy. The project examined the impact of mass cyber surveillance programs of the intelligence agencies of the Five Eyes coalition of states on the right to privacy of communications under international and regional human rights frameworks, including the ICCPR, the ECHR and the ACHR.
Her other scholarly interests include cyber security, cyber espionage, cyber crime, data privacy, internet governance, public international law, international arbitration and international sales of goods law.
Dr Watt welcomes PhD proposals in the fields of:
-international law of cyber security
-cyber crime
-data protection
-international arbitration and
-international sales of goods law
Conferences and Public Events:
Watt, Eliza (2022) The principle of constant care, prolonged drone surveillance and the right to privacy of non-combatants in armed conflicts. In: The Right to Privacy and Data Protection in Times of Armed Conflict. Buchan, Russell and Lubin, Asaf , eds. NATO CCDCOE Publications, Tallinn, Estonia, pp. 157-180. ISBN 9789916956564
Watt, Eliza (2021) States' accountability for internationally wrongful acts arising in the context of 'below the threshold' cyber operations. In: 2022 Year Ahead Conference, 03 Dec 2021, Canadian War Museum, Canada.
Watt, Eliza (2021) Much ado about mass surveillance - the ECtHR grand chamber 'opens the gates of an electronic "Big Brother" in Europe' in Big Brother watch v UK [Blog post]. Strasbourg Observers, Ghent, Belgium.
Watt, Eliza (2021) Judicial attitudes to the problem of state sponsored mass cyber surveillance - a comparative analysis of the recent jurisprudence of the UN HRC, the ECtHR and the CJEU. In: European Society of International Law Krakow-Leiden Symposium: Exploring the Frontiers of International Law in Cyberspace, 25 June 2021, Leiden University, The Netherlands.
Watt, Eliza (2021) State sponsored cyber surveillance: the right to privacy of communications and international law. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, United Kingdom. ISBN 9781789900095
Knowledge Exchange Projects:
-Eliza Watt, 'The Principle of Constant Care, Prolonged Drone Surviellance and the Right to Privacy of Non-Combatants in Armed Conflicts' in Russell Buchan and Asaf Lubin (eds.), The Right to Privacy and Data Protection in Times of Armed Conflict, (NATO CCDCOE Publications, 2022)- fully funded research project by NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, Tallinn, Estonia
-Eliza Watt, ‘The Role of International Human Rights Law in the Protection of Online Privacy in the Age of Surveillance’, 9th International Conference on Cyber Conflict: Defending the Core, NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre Tallinn, Estonia (30 May-2 June 2017)-fully funded conference participation by NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, Tallinn, Estonia.
-Eliza Watt, 'The Right to Privacy and Prolonged Drone Surveillance', NATO CCDCOE/Indiana University Maurer School of Law, The Right to Privacy and Data Protection in Times of Armed Conflict Conference, Berlin, Germany (8-9 October 2021)-fully funded worshop participation by NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, Tallinn, Estonia and Indiana University, US.
-European Parliament Research Service, Panel for Future of Science and technology, 'Data Subjects, Digital Surveillance, AI and The Future of Work' (European Parliament Science and Technology Office Brussels, 23 December 2020)pp. 75-79-contributed a case study on data protection and privacy in the context of workers' monitoring and surveillance in the UK
-United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs, 'Voluntary, Non-Legally Binding Norms for Responsible State Behaviour in the Use of Information and Communications Technology. A Commentary' (UNODA, 2017)-contributed to the 'Commentary to UN Group of Government Experts 2015 Cyber Norms Proposal-Recommendation 13 (e)'
-University of Vienna/European Commission Rewire Fellowship Programme (August 2020)- project evaluation
Engagement and Impact:
Editorial and Peer Reviewer Posts:
Membership of Professional Organisations:
