Article by JProf. Dr. KAESLING, Anna-Lena Borchert and Konstantin Hofmann on the Phenotyping of Vulnerability in European Digital Law, published in *Rechtswis­senschaft* 3/2025

The article by JProf. Dr. Katharina Kaesling, Anna-Lena Borchert, and Konstantin Hofmann on “Phenotyping Vulnerability in Digital Law” was published in *Rechtswissenschaft* 3/2025. Against the backdrop of the increasing use of the concept of vulnerability in the GDPR, the Digital Services Act, and the AI Regulation, the article examines how this legal concept can be made more tangible through phenotyping based on its manifestations.

Challenges and obstacles to a coherent interpretation are identified across legal acts and areas of law, with a focus on group-based, situational, and systemic vulnerability. Using the example of directly targeting children online, the authors demonstrate how these three phenotypes overlap in the relevant provisions of the GDPR, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, and the DSA, and draw conclusions regarding a more coherent, cross-legislative protection concept in EU digital law.

The article is available here.