Artificial intelligence – the focal point of data protection law

The 33rd bpv Huegel-Breakfast Briefing dealt with current challenges for companies in the digital context.

13 September 2019. At the 33rd bpv Huegel-Breakfast Briefing, Dr. Sonja Dürager, Partner and Head of the IT/IP and Data Protection Practice Group at bpv Huegel, gave an insight into the legal aspects of the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in relation to data protection principles and their application to modern technologies such as chatbots, smart wearables, automotive cars or digital twins.

AI essentially describes technologies and systems that can learn to act on the basis of large amounts of data. It is not only about technical data, such as predictive maintenance, but in many cases also about the personal data of the users of such technologies, which are considered valuable by manufacturers for product development. Profiling (the evaluation of personal aspects in order to be able to make certain predictions about the person) is also an important processing process in smart applications.

AI is the epitome of maximum exploitation of the information that can be obtained from data in all circumstances – even unknown and unforeseen – while data protection law is based on the prohibition of data processing and permits such only under strict conditions. Numerous data protection challenges therefore arise in the development and use of AIs, such as the question of data sovereignty and the distribution of roles, or the possibilities of securing data subjects’ rights (e.g. deletion in big data applications).

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