Eliza Watt

Dr Eliza Watt is a Lecturer in Law at Royal Holloway, University of London. She previously served as a Guest Speaker at the College of Information and Cyberspace, National Defense University, Washington D.C. (2020–2022), and as a Visiting Lecturer in Law at the British Law Centre, University of Warsaw. Before joining Royal Holloway, she was Senior Lecturer in Law at Middlesex University, Lecturer in Law at Bournemouth University, and Visiting Lecturer at the University of Westminster.

Dr Watt holds LL.B., LL.M.,LL.M., and PhD degrees from King’s College London and the University of Westminster. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a non-practising barrister of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, with prior consultancy experience in commercial, environmental, licensing, and employment law.

She has taught extensively at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in areas including International Sale of Goods, International Commercial Litigation and Arbitration, English and International Commercial Law, Tort Law, Contract Law, and the English Legal System. At Royal Holloway, she currently teaches Law of Contract (LL1002) and Commercial Law (LL2012/3012), for which she is Module Co-Convenor. She also serves as Academic Integrity Co-Lead.

• PhD, University of Westminster, London, UK
• LL.M., University of Westminster, London, UK
• LL.M., King's College, University of London, UK
• LL.B., (Hons), University of Westminster, London, UK
• Bar Vocational Course, BPP College of Professional Studies Law School, London, UK
• Fellow, Higher Education Academy, UK

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 published her work in numerous 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.

Research Areas:

• States' cyber surveillance/cyber espionage and international human rights
• Cyber security and IHL
• Cyber crime
• Data privacy
• AI
• Internet Governance 
  
  

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’, 9^thInternational 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: 

• The Oxford Process on International Law Protections in Cyberspace, Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (May 2022)- participated in the process of assessing relevant legal parameters applicable to states' lawful countermeasures in the context of low level cyber operations 
• College of Information and Cyberspace, National Defense University, Washington D.C., USA (2020-present)- number of guest lectures delivered within 'Liberties and Rigths in Cyberspace' LL.M. course
• University of Vienna/European Commission REWiRE Fellowship Programme (July-August 2022)- project evaluation 
• Eliza Watt, ‘Right to Privacy and Data Protection in Armed Conflict’, Faculty of Business and Law: Impact in Action Workshop (13 December 2021)-delivered a presentation exploring the impact of pioneering research concerning the applicability of privacy and data privacy rules in armed conflicts on academic and non-academic audiences 

Editorial and Peer Reviewer Posts:

• International Journal of Human Rights (2019-present)
• Oxford Journal of Legal Studies(2019-present)
• Westminster Law Review (2014-2016)
• Bournemouth Law Review(2017-2018)

• The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple
• The Bar Council of England and Wales 
• The British Institute of International and Comparative Law
• The Society of Legal Scholars
• UK Higher Education Academy