Algorithmic Information Co-regulation in the Digital Markets / Fabiana Di Porto

Date: 

Tue, 04/12/2018 - 14:30 to 16:00

Location: 

Room 3613a, Faculty of Social Sciences, Mt. Scopus, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Prof. Fabiana Di Porto

One of the main technological advancements stemming from the digital revolution is the ever increasing ability of online platforms to adopt algorithmic decisions, i.e. highly granular and profiled decisions based on self-learning machines, that can predict choices and thus anticipate human will.

The paper is a theoretical one and addresses the question of whether disclosure self-regulation, as is currently conceived of at the EU level, is the most appropriate strategy to tackle the multifaceted risks of algorithmic decisions taken by private agents. It suggests that: (1) also disclosures should be based on algorithms; (2) pre-tested in a co-regulatory process that involves the regulator and stakeholders; and (3) enforced through legal and other empowerment tools, rather than sole fines.

At the EU level, the General data protection regulation, or GDPR, requires platforms to lay down codes of conduct for the provision of information about the automatic treatment of personal data and to self-assess the risks of data breaches (privacy by design). However, no reference is made to the different capabilities of recipients to such information to understand and process the meaning of algorithmic decisions and their consequences.

Similarly, in relation to the “increasingly dependent” myriads of small and micro businesses (SMEs), the prospected Regulation on the promotion of “fairness and transparency for business users of online intermediation services” (COM(2018) 238 fin. of 26.4.2018) also requires platforms to disclose in their codes of conduct eg. the “main ranking parameters”, or to describe access to data generated by the use of the platforms. Here again, disclosures have in mind a relatively typological notional idea of SMEs and, moreover, do not foresee any enforcement tools.

The paper contends that disclosure self-regulation in a digital era should be rethought of.

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