Privacy risks in disruptive technologies environment. A use case: smart cities

Abstract

At the moment, we are in the so-called industrial revolution 5.0, characterized by the symbiotic relationship between humans and machines to increase people’s capacities and improve people’s living conditions, including working conditions. It is no longer about the Internet of Things, or the use of data to improve manufacturing and decision-making processes, but we are going much further, as the implementation of artificial intelligence systems and data sharing are significantly changing human decision-making processes and, in the same way, Privacy risks have increased substantially. In this article we will analyse the concept of personal data from the point of view of data protection regulations, which configure it in a broad way, with the aim of protecting the individual from the risks of identifiability that affect their privacy, as a result of the massive implementation of disruptive technologies and, in particular, artificial intelligence systems. In the final part of this article we will analyse a use case: the role of data protection in the context of smart cities, assessing the complexity that data processing involves in these environments, and the extremes to be considered, to safeguard people’s privacy.