Personal data, exploitative contracts, and algorithmic fairness : autonomous vehicles meet the internet of things

Abstract

Personal data harvested in the Internet of Things not only promises to be particularly valuable, but also particularly privacy-sensitive.Analysed with the power of specialized Artificial Intelligence, such data allows for potentially beneficial personalization of goods and services; however, it also facilitates data-driven exploitative contracting.For example, data collected by autonomous and connected vehicles enables innovative driving and safety features in a personalized version of autonomous driving; but it also invites exploitative contracts tailored to profit from the vulner-abilities of drivers and passengers.Current EU data protection, contract, and tort law arguably fail to rein in data-driven exploitative contracts.Three novel interventions aiming to infuse greater fairness into the code of the digital economy are discussed: (i) mandatory 'data safe' alternatives; (ii) personalized data protection; and (iii) procedural rules on algorithmic fairness.