Research data, AI and data protection law: what research ‘exceptions’ mean for the development and use of AI technologies

• Lee Matheson, Future of Privacy Forum;
• Pablo Palazzi, Partner, Allende & Brea; adjunct professor at the School of law of UdeSA;
• Nelson Remolina Angarita, Associate Professor, Universidad de los Andes; former Superintendent for the Protection of Personal Data, Colombia;
• Marcela Mattiuzzo, Sócia, VMCA;
• Lucas Borges de Carvalho, Gerente de Projeto/Assessor, Conselho Diretor, ANPD.

Moderadora: Katerina Demetzou, Policy Counsel, Future of Privacy Forum.

This panel will discuss the details of how general personal data protection law applies to processing of personal data for research purposes in the context of AI technologies. Data protection laws often introduce a tailored regime for processing personal data for research purposes. The so-called ‘research exception’ is established in order to promote scientific research, without, however, diminishing the level of protection of natural persons’ fundamental rights and freedoms. The provisions of this special regime are particularly meaningful in the AI context, where high quality datasets that contain personal data are important to train and develop the algorithms as well as to continuously improve them. The purpose of this panel is to discuss the multiple issues around the processing of personal data for the purposes of algorithmic training and development by looking into the legal regimes and proposed laws of several LatAm jurisdictions, including Brazil, Colombia and Argentina, as well as into the EU’s GDPR.

References:

This panel is envisioned as a follow-up to our 2021 panel discussing the intersection of AI and Data Protection Law more generally: The draft AI law currently being considered by the Brazilian Senate explicitly names research and development as a particular goal for the use of AI in Brazil. Various exceptions tied to the uses of personal data in a research context exist in other LATAM data protection frameworks, as well as proposals outside of the LATAM region such as the EU AI Act. We feel that exploring how these exemptions may work in the context of functioning AI systems will add a valuable dimension to the ongoing international debate concerning how best to regulate the development and deployment of AI/ML technologies.