Elisa O ù
MPI-CSL
WORKING PAPERS
2024 | 02
A e Publicly A ailable
(Pe sonal) Da a ‘up o
g abs’?
A Discussion o Th ee P i acy Ag eemen s
MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE
FOR THE STUDY OF
CRIME, SECURITY AND LAW
* Th e esea ch conduc ed o his chap e was pa ly unded by he Ho izon Eu ope p ojec VIGILANT
(Vi al In elliGence o In es iga e ILlegAl DisiN o maTion, G an ag eemen ID: 101073921). I would
like o hank Debo ah K zyzowski o he assis ance wi h li e a u e sea ch, B endan Spillane and
wo anonymous e iewe s o hei s imula ing commen s on ea lie e sions o he chap e . Th e
chap e was p esen ed and discussed a he Max Planck Ins i u e o he S udy o C ime, Secu i y and
Law in F eibu g. I am g a e ul o my colleagues a he Ins i u e o hei insigh ul commen s.
4
A e Publicly A ailable (Pe sonal)
Da a ‘ up o g abs ’ ? A Discussion
o Th ee P i acy A gumen s
ELISA ORR Ù *
Abs ac
Th e e-use o publicly a ailable (pe sonal) da a o o iginally unan icipa ed
pu poses has become common p ac ice. Wi hou such seconda y uses, he de el-
opmen o many AI sys ems like la ge language models (LLMs) and Cha GPT
would no e en ha e been possible. Th is chap e add esses he e hical implica-
ions o such seconda y p ocessing, wi h a pa icula ocus on da a p o ec ion
and p i acy issues. Legal and e hical e alua ions o seconda y p ocessing o
publicly a ailable pe sonal da a di e ge conside ably bo h among schola s and
he gene al public. While some o hese uses a e me wi h opposi ion and c i i-
cism, o he s a e qui e unanimously iewed as unp oblema ic. O en, p oponen s
and opponen s o such p ac ices in oke he same e hical and legal s anda ds o
hei opposi e conclusions. Th is s a e o a ai s shows ha o he conside a ions
besides he public a ailabili y o da a mus play a ole. I calls o a heo e i-
cal cla i i ca ion o he addi ional c i e ia ha should guide decisions abou he
(legally in o med) e hical accep abili y o e-p ocessing p ac ices. In o de o
make a con ibu ion owa ds his goal, he p esen chap e maps he ongoing
deba e and sys ema ises he exis ing con ibu ions a ound h ee lines o a gu-
men : a consen -cen ed posi ion, an app oach ha ocuses on he dis inc ion
be ween da a and in o ma ion, and i nally a line o a gumen ha ocuses on
he con ex ual no ms ha go e n he l ows o in o ma ion. Th e chap e u he
ela es hese a gumen s o h ee unde lying concep ions o p i acy and da a
published in: Da a P o ec ion and P i acy, Volume 16: Ideas Tha D i e Ou Digi al Wo ld,
Hideyuki Ma sumi, Da a Hallinan, Diana Dimi o a, Eleni Kos a & Paul De He (Eds.),
Ha Publishing 2024, pp. 105–123; h ps://www.bloomsbu y.com/uk/da a-p o ec i-
on-and-p i acy- olume-16-9781509976003/
106 Elisa O ù
p o ec ion: igh s-based, s uc u al and con ex ual, and discusses he ad an ages
and disad an ages o each posi ion in he ligh o conc e e examples. I concludes
by a guing o a mixed app oach ha combines co e elemen s o he s uc u al
and con ex ual app oaches. Th e chap e aims o con ibu e o exis ing esea ch in
he i elds o da a, AI and esea ch e hics, and o econnec he deba e wi h e hical
and legal schola ship on p i acy and da a p o ec ion. In doing so, i aims o make
a heo e ical con ibu ion owa ds e i ning exis ing concep ions o p i acy and
da a p o ec ion in o de o make hem mo e i o ‘ d i e ou digi al wo ld ’ as a
as he use o publicly a ailable da a is conce ned.
Keywo ds
P i acy, Da a p o ec ion, Con ex ual in eg i y, La ge language models (LLMs),
Web ha es ing, Da a mining, Social media esea ch, Resea ch e hics, Da a e hics.
I. In oduc ion
Publicly a ailable da a a e da a ha ha e been made a ailable o he gene al public,
usually by being published on he In e ne . Such da a may include in o ma ion
ha is no pe sonally iden i i able o ha is pa o he public domain (such as
Wikipedia a icles), o hey may include pe sonal in o ma ion, as is o en he case
wi h social media pos s. Th e pe sonal in o ma ion sha ed may be made public by
he indi iduals hemsel es o by o he s, as is he case, o example, when an indi-
idual pos s pic u es o se e al people.
Th ese da a a e aluable esou ces o a wide a ie y o uses and pu poses, ang-
ing om ad e ising o esea ch o he de elopmen o apps and o he echnologies
o comme cial exploi a ion. Th e e o e, hey a e o en e-p ocessed o pu poses
ha we e no o eseen a he ime hey we e made public.
Commonly used p ac ices o e-p ocessing include he use o social media da a
o make assump ions abou use s ’ men al heal h, he sc aping o he web o indi-
idual po ai s o build biome ic da ase s, and he use o w i en ex o ain
LLMs. One example o such usage a e apps ha a e speci i cally designed o de ec
ea ly signs o dep ession o suicidal endencies in indi iduals. Fo ins ance, he
Sama i ans ’ Rada app allowed Twi e use s o ins all a plug-in which would ale
hem i any o he p o i les hey had chosen o moni o showed signs o suicidal
in en .
1 O he examples a e s udies aimed a iden i ying language pa e ns in
suicidal people be o e and a e suicide a emp s, and p edic ing he likelihood o
mo he s de eloping pos pa um dep ession by analysing hei wee s.
2 Ano he
1 ‘ Sama i ans Rada ’ , Sama i ans, www.sama i ans.o g/abou -sama i ans/ esea ch-policy/in e ne -
suicide/sama i ans- ada / , accessed 12 Oc obe 2023.
2 Glen Coppe smi h e al., ‘ Explo a o y Analysis o Social Media P io o a Suicide A emp , ’ in
P oceedings o he Th i d Wo kshop on Compu a ional Linguis ics and Clinical Psychology ( San Diego,
A e Publicly A ailable (Pe sonal) Da a ‘up o g abs’? 107
ype o seconda y use o publicly a ailable da a conce ns images o indi iduals,
ei he on social media o on he websi es o public o ganisa ions, p i a e compa-
nies, e c. In 2020, he AI company PimEyes, o iginally based in Poland bu now
loca ed ou side he EU, and he US s a up Clea iew AI used acial images a ail-
able on he in e ne o c ea e hei own biome ic da abases. Th ey hen p o ided
a biome ic sea ch se ice ha allows use s o upload an image and sea ch o
ma ches ( ha is, images o he same pe son). Th is se ice is a ailable o ei he
p i a e o law en o cemen use.
3 Conce ning he hi d ype o use, i ually all
ex ual con en a ailable on he In e ne , including books and scien i i c a icles,
Wikipedia en ies, con en s om blogs, cha s, social media and websi es, can be
used o ain LLMs. Th ese models o m he essen ial unc ions o mul iple applica-
ions, including oice assis an s, au oma ic ansla ions and cha bo s like Cha GPT.
While he Sama i ans ’ Rada was discon inued a ew days a e i s launch due
o widesp ead c i icism, o he simila applica ions, such as he Li e o Tomo ow
cha se ice in New Zealand, ha e epo edly been widely accep ed.
4 Alongside
en husias ic accep ance, sys ems such as oice assis an s and Cha GPT ha e been
me wi h public c i icism, al hough his is no p ima ily ocused on he e-use o
publicly a ailable da a as aining da a.
5 Finally, he e-use o images o biome -
ic iden i i ca ion, as p ac iced by PimEyes and Cle iewAI, has gene a ed in ense
discom o , especially in he EU, and igge ed a se ies o coo dina ed complain s
o da a p o ec ion au ho i ies in se e al EU coun ies, as well as he cu en a emp
by he EU Pa liamen o add his ype o ac i i y o he lis o p ohibi ed p ac ices
unde A icle 5 o he d a AI law.
6
CA, US : Associa ion o Compu a ional Linguis ics , 2016 ) : 106 – 17, doi.o g/10.18653/ 1/W16-0311 ;
Munmun De Choudhu y , Sco Coun s , and E ic Ho i z , ‘ P edic ing Pos pa um Changes in
Emo ion and Beha io ia Social Media , ’ in P oceedings o he SIGCHI Con e ence on Human Fac o s
in Compu ing Sys ems , CHI ’ 13 ( New Yo k, NY, US : Associa ion o Compu ing Machine y , 2013 ) :
3267 – 76, doi.o g/10.1145/2470654.2466447 .
3 Since Ma ch 2022, also he Uk ainian Minis y o De ence has been using Clea iew AI ’ s acial
ecogni ion echnology o mili a y aims: ‘ Exclusi e: Uk aine has s a ed using Clea iew AI ’ s
acial ecogni ion du ing wa , ’ Reu e s, published 14 Ma ch 2022, www. eu e s.com/ echnology/
exclusi e-uk aine-has-s a ed-using-clea iew-ais- acial- ecogni ion-du ing-wa -2022-03-13/ .
4 Jenni e Nicholas , Sande san Onie , and Ma k E La sen , ‘ E hics and P i acy in Social Media
Resea ch o Men al Heal h , ’ Cu en Psychia y Repo s 22 , no. 12 ( 2020 ): 1 – 7 , doi.o g/10.1007/s11920-
020-01205-9 , 2. I seems, howe e , ha he o iginal p oac i e unc ioning o he app as desc ibed by
Nicholas e al. is no longe ac i e and ha Li e Fo Tomo ow has mu a ed o a se ice o connec ing
use s o social media pla o ms wi h men al heal h and c isis helplines. See ‘ Wo king o imp o e he
men al heal h o people in New Zealand and a ound he wo ld ’ , Li eFo Tomo ow, li e o omo ow.
co/ , accessed 12 Oc obe 2023.
5 E hical issues ha ha e been discussed in e e ence o oice assis an s ega d o ins ance gende
biases, while conce ns on Cha GPT include issues o in ellec ual p ope y, good esea ch p ac ices
and he impac on educa ional sys ems. See o ins ance ‘ I ’ d Blush i I Could: Closing Gende Di ides
in Digi al Skills h ough Educa ion ’ , UNESCO and EQUALS Skills Coali ion, 2019, unesdoc.unesco.
o g/a k:/48223/p 0000367416.page=1 ; ‘ CRITICAL AI: Adap ing College W i ing o he Age o La ge
Language Models Such as Cha GPT: Some Nex S eps o Educa o s, ’ C i ical AI, 17 Janua y 2023,
c i icalai.o g/2023/01/17/c i ical-ai-adap ing-college-w i ing- o - he-age-o -la ge-language-models-
such-as-cha gp -some-nex -s eps- o -educa o s/ .
6 See ‘ Eu opawei e Beschwe den gegen Clea iew AI ’ , noyb, 26 May 2023, noyb.eu/de/eu opawei e-
beschwe den-gegen-clea iew-ai and ‘ Pa liamen ’ s nego ia ing posi ion on he a i i cial in elligence
ac ’ , Eu opean Pa liamen , June 2023, www.eu opa l.eu opa.eu/RegDa a/e udes/ATAG/2023/747926/
EPRS_ATA(2023)747926_EN.pd .
108 Elisa O ù
A glance a he academic li e a u e on he pe missibili y o such p ac ices
e eals an equally di e se se o posi ions. Legally, such e-uses a e o en jus i i ed
by i ue o hei being publicly a ailable. A icle 9(2)(e) Gene al Da a P o ec ion
Regula ion ( ‘ GDPR ’ ) seems o suppo his in e p e a ion, a leas in some cases,
as i e en allows he p ocessing o special ca ego ies o da a i hey a e ‘ mani es ly
made public by he da a subjec ’ . Howe e , some legal schola s in e p e he same
p o ision as no jus i ying seconda y p ocessing i he la e is aimed a ex ac -
ing in o ma ion ha he da a subjec would no easonably expec o sha e while
making he da a public.
7
Simila ly, om an e hical poin o iew, he e does no seem o be a s aigh -
o wa d in e p e a ion o he issues a s ake. Despi e he g owing numbe
o guidelines on da a e hics and AI e hics, he issue emains an e hically g ey
a ea.
8 D awing on good scien i i c p ac ice and e hical guidelines o esea ch
in ol ing human pa icipan s, some schola s a gue ha he use o hese da a
should be subjec o addi ional gua an ees including in o med consen , while
o he s a gue ha seconda y use o pe sonal da a wi hou consen is e hically
pe missible.
9 No ably, e hical conside a ions ega ding he use o such da a a e
o en no discussed a all, no only in he comme cial sec o , bu also in esea ch,
whe e e hical sel -assessmen and o e sigh a e inc easingly impo an . A ecen
s udy analysed 132 esea ch a icles using da a om social media and blogs o
discou se analysis and ound ha wo hi ds o hem did no epo o discuss
e hical issues wha soe e .
10 When jus i i ca ions we e gi en, he public a ailabili y
7 S ephan Schindle and Ge i Ho nung , ‘ Da enschu z bei de biome ischen Gesich se kennung , ’
Da enschu z und Da ensiche hei – DuD 45 , no. 8 ( 2021 ): 515 – 21 , doi.o g/10.1007/s11623-021-1482-
6 ; Ge i Ho nung and Ca olin Gilga , ‘ Einmal ö en lich – F ü imme schu zlos ? ’ , Compu e und
Rech 36 , no. 6 ( June 2020 ): 367 – 79 , doi.o g/10.9785/c -2020-360609 . See sec ion III below o u he
de ails. No e ha he so-called Digi al Se ices Ac is no going o change signi i can ly he egula o y
landscape in his espec , since he obliga ion i pu s upon social media pla o ms o enable esea ch-
e s o access o eal- ime publicly a ailable da a only o he pu pose o ‘ pe o ming esea ch ha
con ibu es o he de ec ion, iden i i ca ion and unde s anding o sys emic isks in he Union pu suan
o A icle 34(1) ’ , Digi al Se ices Ac , A 40(4). Th is means ha he esea ch o be conduc ed is no on
he publicly accessible da a hemsel es, bu on he unc ioning o he se ices p o ided.
8 Fo an o e iew o exis ing e hics guidelines see Anna Jobin , Ma cello Ienca , and E y Va ye n a ,
‘ Th e Global Landscape o AI E hics Guidelines ’ , Na u e Machine In elligence 1 , no. 9 ( Sep embe 2019 ):
389 – 99 , doi.o g/10.1038/s42256-019-0088-2 .
9 As an example o he o me posi ion see Signe Ra n , Ashley Ba nwell , and Ba ba a Ba bosa
Ne es , ‘ Wha Is ‘ Publicly A ailable Da a ’ ? Explo ing Blu ed Public – P i a e Bounda ies and E hical
P ac ices Th ough a Case S udy on Ins ag am , ’ Jou nal o Empi ical Resea ch on Human Resea ch
E hics 15 , no. 1 – 2 ( Feb ua y 2020 ): 40 – 45 , doi.o g/10.1177/1556264619850736 , as an example o he
la e posi ion see Guusje Jol and Wyke S ommel , ‘ E hical Conside a ions o Seconda y Da a Use:
Wha abou In o med Consen ? , ’ Du ch Jou nal o Applied Linguis ics 5 , no. 2 ( Janua y 2016 ): 180 – 95 ,
doi.o g/10.1075/dujal.5.2.06jol .
10 Howe e , his does no necessa ily mean ha e hical issues we e comple ely igno ed in he
esea ch. Fo example, he au ho s o he s udy epo ha , in mos cases, he names o he au ho s
o quo ed pos s we e dele ed. Al hough his p ac ice does no eliably p o ec he use s ’ anonymi y
( o ins ance in case o pos e ie al), i shows ha some e hical conside a ions played a ole e en i
no explici ly discussed. See Wyke S ommel and Lynn de Rijk , ‘ E hical App o al: None Sough . How
Discou se Analys s Repo E hical Issues a ound Publicly A ailable Online Da a , ’ Resea ch E hics 17 ,
no. 3 ( July 2021 ): 275 – 97 , doi.o g/10.1177/1747016120988767 .
A e Publicly A ailable (Pe sonal) Da a ‘up o g abs’? 109
o he da a was mos ly seen as an app op ia e and su i cien jus i i ca ion o
u he p ocessing.
11
Th e di e gence in public pe cep ions and expe opinions sugges s ha while
he ac ha he da a a e publicly a ailable may play a ole in de e mining he
law ulness and e hical accep abili y o u he p ocessing, addi ional ac o s and
conside a ions should be aken in o accoun . Th is chap e aims o cla i y which
addi ional elemen s a e c ucial o dis inguish cases whe e he u he use o
publicly a ailable pe sonal da a is pe missible om cases whe e i is no . To his
end, i sys ema ises he exis ing (s ill spa se) e hical and legal li e a u e on he
opic a ound h ee lines o a gumen ha co espond o h ee unde lying concep-
ions o p i acy and da a p o ec ion.
Th e i s line o a gumen ocuses on consen , he second on he dis inc ion
be ween da a and in o ma ion, and he hi d on in o ma ional con ex s. Acco ding
o he i s line o a gumen , which can be seen as an example o igh s-based
app oaches o p i acy and da a p o ec ion, a new igh no o be p o i led by AI ha
euses publicly a ailable da a should be in oduced, which can, howe e , be wai ed
i da a subjec s consen o such p ocessing. 12 Th e second kind o easoning is based
on he dis inc ion be ween he da a ha is made public and he in o ma ion ha
can be ‘ ex ac ed ’ om i , and s esses he impo ance o suppo ing indi idual
da a p o ec ion igh s wi h s uc u al in e en ions o app op ia ely egula e and
shape he way da a a e handled. 13 Finally, he hi d line o a gumen ocuses on he
con ex s in which in o ma ion is exchanged and, d awing on concep ualisa ions o
p i acy as con ex ual in eg i y, emphasises he need o p ocess da a in acco dance
wi h he no ms ha go e n in o ma ion l ows in he ele an con ex s.
14
11 S ommel and Rijk, ‘ E hical App o al: None Sough ’ . See also Joanna Taylo and Claudia Paglia i ,
‘ Mining Social Media Da a: How A e Resea ch Sponso s and Resea che s Add essing he E hical
Challenges ? , ’ Resea ch E hics , 26 Oc obe 2017 , doi.o g/10.1177/1747016117738559 .
12 Fo a cha ac e isa ion o igh s-based app oaches see Daniel J Solo e , ‘ Th e Limi a ions o P i acy
Righ s , ’ No e Dame Law Re iew 98 ( 2023 ): 975 – 1036 , dx.doi.o g/10.2139/ss n.4024790 . Th e in oduc ion
o he igh no o be p o i led h ough AI has been sugges ed by Th o m a s P l o u g , s e e ‘ Th e Righ No
o Be Subjec ed o AI P o i ling Based on Publicly A ailable Da a – P i acy and he Excep ionalism o
AI P o i ling , ’ Philosophy and Technology 36 , no. 1 ( 2023 ): 1 – 22 , doi.o g/10.1007/s13347-023-00616-9 .
13 As examples o his line o a gumen see Nicholas, Onie, and La sen, ‘ E hics and P i acy in Social
Media Resea ch o Men al Heal h ’ ; Schindle and Ho nung, ‘ Da enschu z bei de biome ischen
Gesich se kennung, ’ and, o he unde lying concep ion o da a p o ec ion, Ma ion Albe s , ‘ Umgang
mi pe sonenbezogenen In o ma ionen und Da en ’ , in G undlagen des Ve wal ungs ech s , eds.
And eas Vo ß kuhle e al., ol. 2 ( M ü nchen : C.H. Beck , 2006 ) , § 22; Ma ion Albe s , In o ma ionelle
Selbs bes immung ( Baden-Baden : Nomos , 2005 ) , doi.o g/10.5771/9783845258638 ; Ma ion Albe s ,
‘ Realizing he Complexi y o Da a P o ec ion , ’ in Reloading Da a P o ec ion , e ds . S e g e Gu w i h , R o na l d
Leenes , and Paul de He ( Do d ech : Sp inge , 2014 ) , 213 – 35, doi.o g/10.1007/978-94-007-7540-4_11 .
14 See Hannah B own e al., ‘ Wha Does i Mean o a Language Model o P ese e P i acy ? , ’ P oceedings
o he 2022 ACM Con e ence on Fai ness, Accoun abili y, and T anspa ency , FAccT ’ 22 ( New Yo k , NY ,
USA : Associa ion o Compu ing Machine y , 2022 ) , 2280 – 92, doi.o g/10.1145/3531146.3534642
and, o he heo e ical backg ound, Helen Nissenbaum , P i acy in Con ex : Technology, Policy, and
he In eg i y o Social Li e ( S an o d : S an o d Law Books , 2010 ) ; Helen Nissenbaum , ‘ Respec ing
Con ex o P o ec P i acy: Why Meaning Ma e s , ’ Science and Enginee ing E hics 24 , ( 2018 ): 831 – 852 ,
doi.o g/10.1007/s11948-015-9674-9 .
110 Elisa O ù
Th e p esen chap e discusses he p os and cons o each posi ion in ela ion
o conc e e examples om he h ee a eas men ioned abo e ( sec ions II - IV ), and
p oposes a ou h, mixed app oach ha combines key elemen s o he second and
hi d ypes o concep ualisa ion ( sec ion V ).
II. An Indi idual Righ s App oach: Consen Requi ed
Th e i s line o a gumen elies on consen , and conside s he e-p ocessing o
publicly a ailable da a o be legi ima e only i da a subjec s ha e consen ed o his
seconda y use. An a gumen along hese lines has been o mula ed by Th omas
Ploug in ela ion o e-p ocessing o AI p o i ling pu poses.
15
Ploug a gues o he in oduc ion o a sui gene is (ie, peculia ) igh no o be
subjec ed o AI p o i ling based on da a ha ha e been made public, o example
on social media pla o ms. Th e need o such a dis inc i e igh p ohibi ing
AI p o i ling de i es om he speci i c ha ms ha can be caused by AI-based
p o i ling, such as undue exposu e o social con ol, s igma isa ion and sel -
s igma isa ion.
16 Th e au ho discusses cases in which p o i ling is used o in e
in o ma ion abou he men al heal h o da a subjec s, bu a gues o a legal igh
no o be p o i led by AI in gene al, ega dless o he speci i c p o i ling pu pose.
Th is igh is concep ualised as a nega i e, p o- an o (ie, non absolu e) igh .
As a nega i e igh , i is cha ac e ised as a igh o non-in e e ence h ough
AI p o i ling. As a p o- an o igh , i allows o excep ions, limi a ions and
balancing agains o he igh s. Fu he mo e, his igh can be wai ed by da a
subjec s i hey consen o AI-based p o i ling.
17 Ploug ’ s sugges ion p esen s
s uc u al simila i ies wi h some GDPR p o isions such as A icle 9(2)(a) GDPR,
which allows o excep ions o he gene al p ohibi ion o p ocessing sensi i e
da a i da a subjec s explici ly consen o he p ocessing.
18 Howe e , acco ding
o Ploug, he GDPR only p o ec s indi iduals om AI p o i ling indi ec ly, by
p ohibi ing ce ain ypes o p o i ling, bu does no speci i cally en ail a igh o
he kind he p oposes.
19
Ploug ’ s posi ion can be seen as p o o ypical o igh s-based concep u-
alisa ions o p i acy. Th ese unde s andings ely on indi idual igh s as he
p ima y means o ensu ing p i acy. Howe e , as Daniel Solo e has no ed, hese
app oaches su e om a numbe o limi a ions.
20 In a sense, p i acy igh s
15 P l o u g , ‘ Th e Righ No o Be Subjec ed o AI P o i ling. ’
16 ibid 7 – 11.
17 ibid 2.
18 ‘ he da a subjec has gi en explici consen o he p ocessing o hose pe sonal da a o one o mo e
speci i ed pu poses ’ .
19 Fo mo e de ails see Ploug, ‘ Th e Righ No o Be Subjec ed o AI P o i ling, ’ 15 – 17.
20 S o l o e , D a n i e l J . , ‘ Th e Limi a ions o P i acy Righ s. ’ Fo an o e iew o o he common
c i iques o indi idual app oaches o p i acy and especially on no ice-and-consen amewo ks see
A e Publicly A ailable (Pe sonal) Da a ‘up o g abs’? 111
demand oo much o indi iduals: i s , because hey ely on indi iduals o
add ess p oblems ha a e sys emic, and second, because indi iduals o en lack
he ime and knowledge o make e ec i e use o hei igh s. Finally, p i acy
canno be p o ec ed by ocusing only on indi iduals in isola ion: sha ing one ’ s
da a may also mean sha ing in o ma ion abou o he people ( o example, by
sha ing hei own genomic in o ma ion, indi iduals also sha e in o ma ion
abou hei ela i es).
21
Ploug ’ s p oposal mi o s hese gene al di i cul ies o indi idual igh s
concep ualisa ions in h ee ways. Th e i s limi a ion o his app oach esides in
he wo kabili y o in o med consen : how can indi iduals meaning ully exe -
cise his igh i da a a e al eady ‘ ou he e ’ ? How can hey check whe he hei
da a a e being used o p o i ling by AI, possibly yea s a e hey ha e made hem
public, and by ac o s and pu poses o which hey a e no e en awa e ? How can
p ocesso s, who wan o u he analyse he da a, know whe he he da a subjec s
ga e hei consen o such e-use when hey made hei da a public ?
A second limi a ion, ha Ploug himsel acknowledges, is ha making one ’ s
da a public and using hem o p o i ling may also allow in e ences o be made
abou o he s, such as ela i es who may ha e simila p edisposi ions o diseases.
Howe e , he au ho does no cla i y how his can be mi iga ed by a consen
app oach i consen is no gi en by people indi ec ly a ec ed by he p ocessing
ac i i ies.
Finally, on a gene al le el, Ploug ’ s p oposal lacks sys ema ici y because i
o mula es a e y speci i c igh ha applies only o cases whe e he pe sonal da a
is used o p o i ling by AI, and does no include a gene al cau ion agains o he
kinds o p ocessing. E en i (as I belie e) no all uses o publicly a ailable pe sonal
da a a e p oblema ic, i migh be easonable no o limi he ocus om he ou se
o one pa icula kind o p ocessing. Gi en ha he ways in which da a can be
eused ( h ough AI applica ions and o he means) a e cons an ly e ol ing and,
o he mos pa , unp edic able, i seems mo e ad an ageous o look i s a he
p ocessing o publicly a ailable pe sonal da a as such and, in a second s ep, o
in es iga e which c i e ia make i possible o iden i y, among all he possible uses,
hose ha a e no e hically p oblema ic. O he wise, he e is a isk o ending up
wi h a eac i e, pa chwo k se o s anda ds ha will no be able o cope wi h new
challenges and de elopmen s.
E ec i e p o ec ion agains he isks o e-p ocessing o pe sonal da a can
he e o e, in my iew, only be achie ed by mo ing away om a ocus on he
indi idual and owa ds a mo e s uc u al app oach which emphasises he ole o
ins i u ions. Th is would aim a egula ing he a chi ec u e o da a exchange in a
also Daniel Susse , ‘ No ice A e No ice-and-Consen : Why P i acy Disclosu es A e Valuable E en
i Consen F amewo ks A en ’ , ’ Jou nal o In o ma ion Policy 9 ( 2019 ): 148 – 73 , doi.o g/10.5325/
jin opoli.9.2019.0148 .
21 Solo e, ‘ Th e Limi a ions o P i acy Righ s, ’ 975.
112 Elisa O ù
way ha c ea es he condi ions o da a o be handled app op ia ely, wi hou ely-
ing oo much on he ini ia i e o indi iduals o en o ce hei igh s. Addi ionally,
a sys ema ic app oach is p e e able o one ha c ea es ad hoc indi idual igh s
ocusing on speci i c p ocessing pu poses such as p o i ling by AI.
III. A S uc u al App oach: Da a and In o ma ion
a e no he Same
Th e second line o a gumen akes a s uc u al app oach and dis inguishes
be ween he da a ha ha e been made public and he in o ma ion ha can be
ex ac ed om hem. Th is in o ma ion may e eal u he cha ac e is ics, a i-
udes, e c abou indi iduals ha we e no in ended o be sha ed o communica ed
when he da a was o iginally made public.
Recen ly, Jenni e Nicholas e al.
22 ha e adop ed a simila line o a gumen
o discuss he use o social media da a o in e in o ma ion abou use s ’ men al
heal h. Th ey obse e ha use s make s a emen s on social media ha a e di ec ly
o indi ec ly ela ed o men al heal h issues and ha a e analysed o d aw in e -
ences abou men al illness con a y o hei o iginal in en ions.
23 When sha ing
he o iginal da a, social media use s wan o con ey in o ma ion abou , say,
hei eelings and emo ions, bu mos o en do no wan o p o ide in o ma ion
o esea che s o heal h ca e wo ke s abou hei men al heal h o illnesses. Th e
au ho s he e o e sugges ha e-use should be limi ed o da a ha ha e been
explici ly dona ed by social media use s.
Ano he illus a i e example is he use o publicly a ailable po ai s o
ex ac biome ic in o ma ion, as discussed by S ephan Schindle and Ge i
Ho nung.
24
Th e au ho s dis inguish be ween he da a ha in e ne and social media
use s in ended o make public and he in o ma ion ha can be ex ac ed om
such da a. By pos ing hei po ai s, he indi iduals did no in end o sha e he
biome ic in o ma ion ha is echnically embedded in hei images.
25 C ucially,
acco ding o Schindle and Ho nung, he e y ac ha a special echnical p ocess
is equi ed o ex ac he biome ic in o ma ion om he po ai s p o ides
22 Nicholas, Onie, and La sen, ‘ E hics and P i acy in Social Media Resea ch o Men al Heal h. ’
23 ‘ [ … ] al hough social media da a a e o en publicly a ailable, when collec ed o he pu poses o
men al heal h esea ch, he da a a e likely o con ain sensi i e pe sonal in o ma ion . Fo example, as
ou lined abo e, social media da a may de ail an indi idual ’ s expe ience wi h a men al heal h condi ion,
o be used o in e men al ill-heal h when no such public (o po en ially p i a e) decla a ion has been
made, ’ Nicholas, Onie, and La sen, ‘ E hics and P i acy in Social Media Resea ch o Men al Heal h, ’ 3,
i alics added.
24 Schindle and Ho nung, ‘ Da enschu z bei de biome ischen Gesich se kennung ’ .
25 Th e au ho s discuss he e only he cases in which he po ai s a e made publicly accessible by he
same subjec s depic ed on hem. In all o he cases he e is no legi ima e g ound o p ocessing he da a,
see A 6 and A 9 GDPR.
A e Publicly A ailable (Pe sonal) Da a ‘up o g abs’? 119
sys ema ic and ‘ posi i e ’ componen . C ucial ques ions such as he ‘ sensi i eness ’
o he da a/in o ma ion no longe ocus only on he ‘ sou ce ’ o he da a, bu also
on he l ows and uses o he in o ma ion. In o he wo ds, he pe spec i e becomes
less indi idualis ic and mo e s uc u al. Indeed, ensu ing ha da a a e handled
app op ia ely is a ask ha can only be ul i lled i public au ho i ies c ea e he
s uc u al condi ions ha allow da a o l ow app op ia ely (and indi idual igh s
o be en o ced). And ye , as we ha e seen, his pe spec i e alone elies oo much
on case-by-case conside a ions o de e mine when a p i acy iola ion is likely
o occu o has occu ed, and is no l exible enough o deal wi h new kinds o
e-p ocessing.
43
A po en ial mi iga ion o his sho coming lies in combining he s uc u al
pe spec i e wi h con ex ual app oaches: acco ding o his combined app oach,
p i acy iola ions a e likely o occu whene e da a a e p ocessed in a con ex
di e en om he one in which hey we e o iginally sha ed. Th e change o
dis up ion o he con ex could hen se e as a i s c i e ion o iden i y si ua-
ions whe e addi ional p ecau ions and es ic ions need o be applied o da a
p ocessing. Unde his app oach, da a p ocesso s who wish o e-use publicly
a ailable da a would hen be esponsible o con incingly demons a ing ha he
u he p ocessing is in line wi h he in o ma ional no ms ha go e ned he o ig-
inal con ex . A his mo e conc e e le el, conside a ions based on he dis inc ion
be ween da a and in o ma ion play an impo an ole in de e mining whe he
he uses in he new con ex s a e consis en wi h he in o ma ional no ms o he
o iginal con ex .
A con ex ual app oach also seems o be pa icula ly app op ia e o ace he
challenges o he digi al and AI age. Indeed, I p opose o conside he main
cha ac e is ic o he digi al wo d, o big da a and e en mo e o AI applica ions,
as hei dis up ion o con ex s. Wha makes big da a and AI applica ions so
dis inc i e, powe ul and, o some, h ea ening, is ha hey make i possible o
connec di e en social, epis emic and in e ac ional con ex s wi h an exponen-
ial inc ease in speed and ease.
44 I may be ha he i s legal concep ualisa ions
o a igh o p i acy we e p omp ed by a simila challenge o he dis up ion o
con ex s. When Samuel Wa en and Louis B andeis published hei amous a i-
cle ‘ Th e Righ o P i acy ’ in 1890, i was p obably he di usion o pho og aphy
and he subsequen possibili y o dissemina ing images aken in a p i a e con ex
43 See sec ion III abo e.
44 In a simila ein, Nissenbaum no es: ‘ Th e challenge o p i acy online is no ha he enue is
dis inc and di e en , o ha p i acy equi emen s a e dis inc and di e en , bu ha media ion by
he Ne leads o dis up ions in he cap u e, analysis, and dissemina ion o in o ma ion as we ac , in e -
ac , and ansac online. ’ H Nissenbaum , ‘ A Con ex ual App oach o P i acy Online , ’ Daedalus, he
Jou nal o he Ame ican Academy o A s & Sciences 140 , no. 4 ( 2011 ): 38 . Also he no ion o ‘ con ex ual
gaps ’ poin s in o a simila di ec ion, see Go don Hull , Hea he Rich e Lip o d , and Celine La ulipe ,
‘ Con ex ual Gaps: P i acy Issues on Facebook , ’ E hics and In o ma ion Technology 13 , no. 4 ( Decembe
2011 ): 289 – 302 , doi.o g/10.1007/s10676-010-9224-8 .
120 Elisa O ù
o a wide public ha igge ed hei e l ec ions.
45 Simila ly, da a p oduced and
in o ma ion sha ed in speci i c social con ex s can now easily be ansposed,
used and dissemina ed in con ex s o which he people in ol ed we e no e en
awa e. Th is dis up s no only he con ex s o in o ma ion sha ing and hei
no ms, bu also he e y eliabili y o he sepa a ion o con ex s ha has been a
he co e o social in e ac ion.
46
Finally, a combina ion o he s uc u al and con ex ual app oaches makes i
possible o add ess he c i ique o conse a ism ha has been ad anced o pu ely
con ex ual app oaches.
47 By emphasising he need o egula o y powe s o in e -
ene and shape in o ma ion l ows, a s uc u al app oach poin s o one o he
mos impo an ac o s able o ac i ely in l uence and change in o ma ional no ms,
namely legisla i e powe s. Th is may sound like an o e ly legalis ic and law-cen ed
pe spec i e. Adop ing his pe spec i e, howe e , does no mean neglec ing he
impo ance o o he sou ces o in o ma ional no ms o he ac ha legal no ms
a e no he only kind o socie al no ms, which a e also shaped by mo ali y,
con en ions, eligion, cul u e, and so on. Mo eo e , he legal sphe e is no igidly
sepa a ed om he o he no ma i e sphe es, and he legisla i e p ocess is, a i s
bes , sensi i e o challenges and demands o change om socie y. Th e GDPR,
despi e all i s limi a ions, can be seen as a posi i e example o legal no m-making
ha has been able o pa ially eshape con ex ual no ms in a way ha e ec i ely
esponds o echnological changes and he discom o caused by eme ging p ac-
ices ha dis up exis ing in o ma ion con ex s and no ms. In addi ion, new laws
in l uence indi iduals ’ pe cep ions and a i udes and can hus igge o acili a e a
shi in non-legal con ex ual no ms. Fo example, e en i no ice and consen poli-
cies a e mos ly designed o nudge use s in o accep ing cookies, i is s ill impo an
o shaping mo al, cul u al and socie al no ms ha use s know ha he use o
cookies should no legally be he de aul op ion and should only be allowed wi h
explici consen .
VI. Conclusion
Th is chap e add essed he ques ion as o whe he publicly a ailable (pe sonal)
da a can be used o a bi a y pu poses simply by i ue o hei public accessibili y.
45 Samuel D Wa en and Louis D B andeis , ‘ Th e Righ o P i acy [ he Implici Made Explici ] , ’ in
Philosophical Dimensions o P i acy: An An hology , eds. Fe dinand Da id Schoeman ( Camb idge :
Camb idge Uni e si y P ess , 1984 ) , 75 – 103; Amy Gajda , Wha i Samuel D. Wa en Hadn ’ Ma ied
a Sena o ’ s Daugh e ? : Unco e ing he P ess Co e age Th a Led o he Righ o P i acy , ol. 6 , Illinois
Public Law and Legal Th eo y Resea ch Pape s Se ies 7 , 2007 .
46 E i n g G o man , Th e P esen a ion o Sel in E e yday Li e ( New Yo k : Ancho , 1959 ) ; Ka l Lenz ,
‘ Th e P esen a ion o Sel in E e yday Li e , ’ in Go man-Handbuch: Leben – We k – Wi kung , eds.
Ka l Lenz and Robe He lage ( S u ga : J.B. Me zle , 2022 ) , 267 – 74, doi.o g/10.1007/978-3-476-
05871-3_37 ; Nissenbaum, P i acy in Con ex .
47 Fo he c i icism see sec ion IV abo e.
A e Publicly A ailable (Pe sonal) Da a ‘up o g abs’? 121
I analysed h ee ypes o a gumen s used in he li e a u e o answe his ques-
ion: indi idual igh s a gumen s cen ed on he no ion o consen , s uc u al
conside a ions based on he dis inc ion be ween da a and in o ma ion, and i nally
con ex ual concep ions ocusing on he no ms ha egula e in o ma ion l ows in
di e en socie al con ex s. Th e chap e a gued ha a combina ion o he s uc-
u al and con ex ual app oaches is bes sui ed o add ess he challenges posed
by digi al echnologies, big da a and AI sys ems. Indeed, i a gued ha he co e
cha ac e is ic o hese echniques is hei abili y no only o dis up he in o ma-
ional con ex , bu also o ende obsole e he eliabili y o dis inguishing be ween
di e en in o ma ional con ex s. Ag eeing wi h Solo e ’ s asse ion ha ‘ e ec i e
p i acy p o ec ion in ol es no jus acili a ing indi idual con ol, bu also b ing-
ing he collec ion, p ocessing, and ans e o pe sonal da a unde con ol ’ , 48 I ha e
a gued o a modi i ca ion o Nissenbaum ’ s con ex ual app oach, which inco po-
a es elemen s o Albe s ’ s s uc u al app oach and he dis inc ion be ween da a
and in o ma ion and emphasises he posi i e ole o law in shaping and di ec ing
con ex ual no ms.
Th e sys ema ising e o done in his a icle is mean o p o ide he basis o
u he wo k aiming a ansla ing he concep ual backg ound in o p ac ical e hical
guidance o e-p ocessing o publicly a ailable da a, especially bu no exclusi ely
o esea ch pu poses.
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