Correcting Wrong (AI) Data: Can the Right to Rectification be of Help?

  • Panel
  • Le Baixu
  • Wednesday 21.05 — 17:20 - 18:40
  • Academic 3
  • Business 1
  • Policy 2
This panel intends to discuss an under-explored data subject right, the right to rectification of article 16 GDPR. The focus lies on the role the right can have as an instrument of contestation of inadequate evaluations concerning an individual, using AI inferences as a case study. It will take the audience on a journey throughout the history of the right, from its application by national data protection authorities and courts to traditional pen and paper assessments to contemporary automated AI ones. The goal is to uncover the purpose of this right, clarify the meaning of ‘accuracy’ and ‘completeness’ and elucidate what ‘rectification’ entails in practical terms, especially in relation to subjective data. Against this background, the main question raised is: can the right to rectification be used to challenge wrong (AI) assessments concerning an individual and, if yes, how? The panel will dicuss this question by means of provocative statements.

Questions to be answered

  1. Does the right to rectification apply to (human) opinions and AI inferences?
  2. Is 'technical impossibility' to rectify a valid reason to exempt the controller from rectification obligations?
  3. Can data subjects provide sufficient evidence when requesting the rectification of AI inferences?
  4. Who acts as the ‘arbiter of truth’ ? (controller, supervisory authority or data subject)

Moderator

Andreas Hӓuselmann

Open Universiteit - Netherlands

Andreas Häuselmann is an Assistant Professor of Privacy and Data Protection Law at Open Universiteit in the Netherlands. He has obtained his PhD on AI and EU Privacy and Data Protection Law at Leiden University in the Netherlands. His research concentrates on EU privacy and data protection law with a focus on AI. His research interests include automated decision-making, the right to explanation under the AI Act, accuracy, data subject rights, and human-machine communication confidentiality. Andreas combines his role in academia with legal practice. He is as a Senior Adviser - Law & AI at the Dutch law firm De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek N.V.

Speaker

Gloria González Fuster

Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) - Belgium

Prof. Dr. Gloria González Fuster is a Research Professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)’s Faculty of Law and Criminology, and the Director of the Law, Science, Technology and Society (LSTS) Large Research Group. She holds a research position on ‘Digitalisation & a Europe of rights and freedoms’, and teaches privacy and data protection law. She is also a Professorial Fellow at the United Nations University – Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS).

Speaker

Kleanthi Sardeli

noyb - Austria

Kleanthi Sardeli is a Greek data protection lawyer who has been working at noyb since 2024. Prior to joining noyb, she worked in a Greek law firm specialising in data protection from 2021. Since 2024, she has been a PhD candidate at the University of Groningen, focusing on copyright law and artificial intelligence. She holds a Master's degree in Law and Information & Communication Technologies from the University of Piraeus and a Bachelor's degree in Law from the University of Athens.

Speaker

Stephanie Rossello

Open Universiteit / KU Leuven - Netherlands

Stephanie Rossello is a doctoral candidate at Open Universiteit (Heerlen, The Netherlands) and KU Leuven (Leuven, Belgium). Her research focuses on the right to rectification of inaccurate personal data in general and, in particular, applied to AI inferences and AI systems. Prior to starting her PhD, Stephanie was working as a researcher at the Center for IT and IP Law (KU Leuven), and as inhouse counsel and lawyer, specializing in EU data protection, anti-trust and real-estate law.

Speaker

Anouk Focquet

Faros - Belgium

Anouk Focquet is a partner at Faros, a Brussels-based law firm, where she advises international and national companies on data protection matters. She has extensive experience in the application of the GDPR, ePrivacy legislation, the AI Act, the Data Act, and related regulatory frameworks. Anouk also serves as the Data Protection Officer for the Flemish Bar Association. She is the editor and co-author of a 350-page monograph (2019, 2022, and 2024) providing an in-depth analysis of the GDPR and its practical application, published in Dutch and French. Additionally, she is a member of the editorial board of Tijdschrift Computerrecht and RABG, two leading Belgian journals in data protection law. Anouk is a teaching assistant at KU Leuven's Centre for IT & IP Law, where she teaches data protection to bachelor’s and master’s students in the law faculty. She is also an affiliated researcher at the Research Group on Law, Science, Technology & Society (LSTS) at the Free University of Brussels (VUB).