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Full-Text Articles in Law

Data Privacy, Human Rights, And Algorithmic Opacity, Sylvia Lu Jan 2022

Data Privacy, Human Rights, And Algorithmic Opacity, Sylvia Lu

Fellow, Adjunct, Lecturer, and Research Scholar Works

Decades ago, it was difficult to imagine a reality in which artificial intelligence (AI) could penetrate every corner of our lives to monitor our innermost selves for commercial interests. Within just a few decades, the private sector has seen a wild proliferation of AI systems, many of which are more powerful and penetrating than anticipated. In many cases, AI systems have become “the power behind the throne,” tracking user activities and making fateful decisions through predictive analysis of personal information. Despite the growing power of AI, proprietary algorithmic systems can be technically complex, legally claimed as trade secrets, and managerially …


The Hidden Harms Of Privacy Penalties, Mary D. Fan Jan 2022

The Hidden Harms Of Privacy Penalties, Mary D. Fan

Articles

How to frame privacy penalties to protect our personal information is an important question as demands for legislation and proposals proliferate. The predominant assumption in calls for a comprehensive consumer privacy regime is that regulation and penalties arm the consumer David against Goliath businesses. Missing in the focus on powerful companies is attention to the potential harms of expanding privacy penalties for small-fry individuals and entities, especially from disfavored or marginalized groups. This article is the first to illuminate the regressive risks of privacy penalties, showing how broad privacy penalties can become tools for harassment of small businesses and individuals …


The Gdpr As Privacy Pretext And The Problem Of Co-Opting Privacy, Neil M. Richards Jan 2022

The Gdpr As Privacy Pretext And The Problem Of Co-Opting Privacy, Neil M. Richards

Scholarship@WashULaw

Privacy and data protection law's expansion brings with it opportunities for mischief as privacy rules are used pretextually to serve other ends. This Essay examines the problem of such co-option of privacy using a case study of lawsuits in which defendants seek to use the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) to frustrate ordinary civil discovery. In a series of cases, European civil defendants have argued that the GDPR requires them to redact all names from otherwise valid discovery requests for relevant evidence produced under a protective order, thereby turning the GDPR from a rule designed to protect the fundamental …