Profiling and AmI

Abstract

Some of the most critical challenges for 'the future of identity in the information society' must be located in the domain of automated profiling practices. Profiling technologies enable the construction and application of group profiles used for targeted advertising, anti-money laundering, actuarial justice, etc. Profiling is also the conditio sine qua non for the realisation of the vision of Ambient Intelligence. Though automated profiling seems to provide the only viable answer for the increasing information overload and though it seems to be a promising tool for the selection of relevant and useful information, its invisible nature and pervasive character may affect core principles of democracy and the rule of law, especially privacy and non-discrimination. In response to these challenges we suggest novel types of protection next to the existing data protection regimes. Instead of focusing on the protection of personal data, these novel tools focus on the protection against invisible or unjustified profiling. Finally, we develop the idea of Ambient Law, advocating a framework of technologically embedded legal rules that guarantee a transparency of profiles that should allow European citizens to decide which of their data they want to hide, when and in which context. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.