Elements in Data Rights and Wrongs – serie

Data Rights in Transition maps the development of data rights that formed and reformed in response to the socio-technical transformations of the postwar twentieth century. The authors situate these rights, with their early pragmatic emphasis on fair information processing, as different from and less symbolically powerful than utopian human rights of older centuries. They argue that, if an essential role of human rights is 'to capture the world's imagination', the next generation of data rights needs to come closer to realising that vision - even while maintaining their pragmatic focus on effectiveness. After a brief introduction, the sections that follow focus on socio-technical transformations, emergence of the right to data protection, and new and emerging rights such as the right to be forgotten and the right not to be subject to automated decision-making, along with new mechanisms of governance and enforcement.

Data Rights in Transition maps the development of data rights that formed and reformed in response to the socio-technical transformations of the postwar twentieth century. The authors situate these rights, with their early pragmatic emphasis on fair information processing, as different from and less symbolically powerful than utopian human rights of older centuries. They argue that, if an essential role of human rights is 'to capture the world's imagination', the next generation of data rights needs to come closer to realising that vision - even while maintaining their pragmatic focus on effectiveness. After a brief introduction, the sections that follow focus on socio-technical transformations, emergence of the right to data protection, and new and emerging rights such as the right to be forgotten and the right not to be subject to automated decision-making, along with new mechanisms of governance and enforcement.

As managers digitize judgment using AI, their evaluations of persons risk imposing benefits and burdens in opaque and unaccountable ways. A wide range of harms may occur when access to one's personal data (and meaningful information about its use) is denied. Key data access rights and AI explainability guarantees in US. and EU law are designed to ameliorate the harms caused by irresponsible digitization, but their definition and range of application is contested. A robust policy evaluation framework will be needed to inform the proper level and scope of information access, as regulators clarify the contours of such rights and guarantees. By revealing the stakes of data access, this Element offers a useful evaluative framework for those interpreting and applying laws of data protection and AI explainability. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

As managers digitize judgment using AI, their evaluations of persons risk imposing benefits and burdens in opaque and unaccountable ways. A wide range of harms may occur when access to one's personal data (and meaningful information about its use) is denied. Key data access rights and AI explainability guarantees in US. and EU law are designed to ameliorate the harms caused by irresponsible digitization, but their definition and range of application is contested. A robust policy evaluation framework will be needed to inform the proper level and scope of information access, as regulators clarify the contours of such rights and guarantees. By revealing the stakes of data access, this Element offers a useful evaluative framework for those interpreting and applying laws of data protection and AI explainability. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Concerns around misinformation and disinformation have intensified with the rise of AI tools, with many claiming this is a watershed moment for truth, accuracy and democracy. In response, numerous laws have been enacted in different jurisdictions. Addressing Misinformation and Disinformation introduces this new legal landscape and charts a path forward. The Element identifies avoidance or alleviation of harm as a central legal preoccupation, outlines technical developments associated with AI and other technologies, and highlights social approaches that can support long-term civic resilience. Offering an expansive interdisciplinary analysis that moves beyond narrow debates about definitions, Addressing Misinformation and Disinformation shows how law can work alongside other technical and social mechanisms, as part of a coherent policy response.

Concerns around misinformation and disinformation have intensified with the rise of AI tools, with many claiming this is a watershed moment for truth, accuracy and democracy. In response, numerous laws have been enacted in different jurisdictions. Addressing Misinformation and Disinformation introduces this new legal landscape and charts a path forward. The Element identifies avoidance or alleviation of harm as a central legal preoccupation, outlines technical developments associated with AI and other technologies, and highlights social approaches that can support long-term civic resilience. Offering an expansive interdisciplinary analysis that moves beyond narrow debates about definitions, Addressing Misinformation and Disinformation shows how law can work alongside other technical and social mechanisms, as part of a coherent policy response.

This Element revisits the unsettled relationship between (information) privacy and data protection, exploring why it remains elusive, complex, and often misunderstood. It does so by integrating conceptual, regulatory, and legal analysis. First, it identifies and discusses three conceptualisations of privacy in the literature, arguing that they should be understood complementarily rather than alternatively to provide a layered account of privacy. Second, it examines how each of these conceptualisations is reflected in the language and substance of key regional and international data protection frameworks. Third, it analyses their relationship through a legal lens, assessing the extent to which core data protection principles appear in human rights jurisprudence on the right to privacy. By bringing together these strands of analysis, it demonstrates that privacy and data protection overlap yet remain non-identical, and illustrates why their boundaries remain difficult to delineate. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

This Element revisits the unsettled relationship between (information) privacy and data protection, exploring why it remains elusive, complex, and often misunderstood. It does so by integrating conceptual, regulatory, and legal analysis. First, it identifies and discusses three conceptualisations of privacy in the literature, arguing that they should be understood complementarily rather than alternatively to provide a layered account of privacy. Second, it examines how each of these conceptualisations is reflected in the language and substance of key regional and international data protection frameworks. Third, it analyses their relationship through a legal lens, assessing the extent to which core data protection principles appear in human rights jurisprudence on the right to privacy. By bringing together these strands of analysis, it demonstrates that privacy and data protection overlap yet remain non-identical, and illustrates why their boundaries remain difficult to delineate. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Clinicians and consumers have long been interested in using purpose-built chatbots to provide mental health support. Specifically designed therapy chatbots are now available direct-to-consumer, even though researchers have yet to establish their efficacy, safety and viability. However, whatever their clinical merits or limitations, the role for specialised therapy chatbots has been overshadowed by the increasing number of people using AI companions and general-purpose generative AI for mental health support. Reports have implicated these offerings in instances of user self-harm, prompting calls for more robust regulation across the entire field. This Element examines the opportunities, risks and legal landscape of AI for direct-to-consumer mental health support and considers a response of distributed regulatory networks. This approach abandons any pretence of a single body of law providing an effective and palatable response for concerns raised by therapy chatbots and the challenges posed by evolving technologies operating in sensitive domains.