In digital economies, the Internet enables the “platformisation” of everything. Big technology companies and mobile apps are running mega marketplaces, supported by seamless online payments systems. This rapidly expanding ecosystem is fueled by data. Meanwhile, perceptions of the global financial crisis, data breaches, disinformation and the manipulation of political sentiment have combined to create a modern trust crisis. A lack of trust constrains commerce, particularly in terms of consumer protection and investment. Big data, artificial intelligence, automated algorithms and blockchain technology offer new solutions and risks.

Trust in our legal systems depends on certainty, consistency and enforceability of the law. However, regulatory and remedial gaps exist because the law has not kept up with technology. This work explores the role of competency and good faith, in the creation of social and legal relationships of trust; and the need for governance transparency and human accountability to combat distrust, particularly in digital economies.

Author Biography

Dr Philippa (Pip) Ryan is a barrister and a senior lecturer in the College of Law at the Australian National University in Canberra. She is a Fellow of the Australian Digital Commerce Association. Pip is Chair of the Standards Australia blockchain working group for smart contracts, and Deputy Chair of the Australian Computer Society’s blockchain technical committee. In 2018, she was named an American Bar Association “Legal Rebel”. Pip co-authored Van Rijmenam and Ryan, Blockchain: Transforming Your Business and Our World (Routledge, 2019). Her favourite place to be is with her husband at home in the Snowy Mountains, with family and friends.

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