Data protection and the transformation of rights in the digital society

Francisco Balaguer Callejón

Abstract

This paper analyses the centrality that data protection is acquiring in the digital society as a right that, together with that of consumer protection, is expanding and occupying spaces for guaranteeing other rights that by themselves have weaker protections. This evolution also contributes to transforming the system of rights insofar as it detaches them from substantive principles and values in order to secure them from the market’s standpoint. This instrumental character to the market is especially relevant in data protection, since in addition to being a right, it is also a commodity in the framework of the data economy. The paper also highlights the challenges posed by Generative Artificial Intelligence, not only for data protection, but also for the data economy itself and the digital society, as it has the capacity to generate and propagate disinformation of a systemic nature.