Dr. Aleksandre Zardiashvili (alias Lex Zard) is an independent researcher focusing on the governance of digital advertising. Lex received his PhD in May 2024 titled: “Power & Dignity: The Ends of Online Behavioural advertising in the European Union” in Leiden University (the Netherlands), where he also worked as a researcher and a lecturer in 2019-2023. Lex is currently working on several projects related to digital advertising, including the European Union (EU) Commission study “Online Advertising at the Crossroads of the Different Regulatory Frameworks”.

Lex is also a Technology & Human Rights Fellow at Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, where he works with other fellows on the theme of “Surveillance Capitalism vs Democracy”. In this context, Lex mainly investigates the theories of harm to understand the societal costs of surveillance-based advertising. As a Balsillie Scholar, Lex examines the governance frameworks necessary to ensure fair balancing of interests within browser-based online advertising solutions currently being developed as the alternative to traditional advertising models allowing cross-site surveillance.