Recommended for you: “You don’t need no thought control”. An analysis of news personalisation in light of article 22 GDPR

Abstract

More and more often personalisation at news websites is being introduced. In order to be capable of providing suggestions, recommender systems create and maintain a user profile per individual consumer that captures the latter’s preferences over time. This requires the processing of personal data, and more specifically its collection and use for both profiling purposes and the eventual delivery of recommendations. In view of the fact that providing users with individualised news recommendations is usually realised by solely automated means and may in some cases violate people’s absolute and non-derogable rights to freedom of thought and freedom of opinion, it could be prohibited on the basis of Article 22(1) of the EU General Data Protection Regulation. Online newspapers ideally abstain from becoming personalisation-only forums and give users some form of control as regards the determination of their reading preferences and interests.