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On the Principle of Privacy by Design and its Limits: Technology, Ethics and the Rule of Law

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European Data Protection: In Good Health?

Abstract

Over the last years lawmakers, privacy commissioners and scholars have discussed the idea of embedding data protection safeguards in ICT and other types of technology, by means of value-sensitive design, AI and legal ontologies, PeCAM platforms, and more. Whereas this kind of effort is offering fruitful solutions for operating systems, health care technologies, social networks and smart environments, the paper stresses some critical aspects of the principle by examining technological limits, ethical constraints and legal conditions of privacy by design, so as to prevent some misapprehensions of the current debate. The idea should be to decrease the entropy of the system via ‘digital air-bags’ and to strengthen people’s rights by widening the range of their choices, rather than preventing harm generating behaviour from occurring through the use of self-enforcement technologies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Law School, University of Torino, via s. Ottavio 54, 10124, Torino, Italy

    Ugo Pagallo

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  1. Ugo Pagallo
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Correspondence to Ugo Pagallo .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Pleinlaan 2, Brussel, 1050, Belgium

    Serge Gutwirth

  2. , TILT, Tilburg University, Warandelaan 2, Tilburg, 5037 AB, Netherlands

    Ronald Leenes

  3. Center for Law, Science, Technology, and Society Studies (LSTS), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, Brussels, 1050, Belgium

    Paul De Hert

  4. Research Centre for Information, Technology & Law, University of Namur, Rempart de la Vierge 5, Namur, 5000, Belgium

    Yves Poullet

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Pagallo, U. (2012). On the Principle of Privacy by Design and its Limits: Technology, Ethics and the Rule of Law. In: Gutwirth, S., Leenes, R., De Hert, P., Poullet, Y. (eds) European Data Protection: In Good Health?. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2903-2_16

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