How should automated profiling be regulated?

Project Information

PROFILE

Grant agreement ID: 748514

DOI

10.3030/748514

Project terminated on 15 February 2019

EC signature date 30 March 2017

Start date 1 January 2018

End date 31 December 2019

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 172 800,00

EU contribution

€ 172 800,00

Coordinated by

VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT BRUSSEL
Belgium

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PROFILE (How should automated profiling be regulated?)

Reporting period: 2018-01-01 to 2019-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Profiling is a type of algorithmic decision-making that involves automated processing of personal or other data to develop profiles that can be used to make decisions about people. Some companies use thousands of data points to take automated and opaque decisions: online shops can sell the same good to different consumers for different prices. Lenders can set interest rates for individual consumers, or refuse to lend to them. Insurers can adjust premiums to individual consumers, or deny them insurance.

Profiling advances important goals, such as efficiency and economic growth. But profiling may threaten values the law aims to protect, and goals it aims to achieve. For instance, profiling can lead to unfair or even illegal discrimination. This project examines profile-based price and service differentiation. Current law regarding profiling is unclear and may fail to protect important values.

The overarching research question for the project is: to protect human rights, while considering the particularities of different sectors, should the law be amended because of automated profiling, and if so: how?

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The researcher has analysed the application of discrimination law to automated profiling and online price discrimination. He has also analysed literature on automated decision-making, profiling, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. The researcher has presented and discussed his research at international conferences, for instance in Oxford, Washington, and Beijing. He has published several papers based on the research. See:
https://www.ivir.nl/employee/zuiderveen-borgesius/
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1896949
https://twitter.com/FBorgesius

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project aims to develop principles for policymakers to regulate profile-based price and service differentiation.

Picture-Frederik-Zuiderveen-Borgesius