The Right to Explanation, Explained

Authors

Margot E. Kaminski, University of Colorado Law SchoolFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication

Berkeley Technology Law Journal

Year

2019

Citation Information

Margot E. Kaminski, The Right to Explanation, Explained, 34 Berkeley Tech. L.J. 189 (2019), available at https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/faculty-articles/1227.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.15779/Z38TD9N83H

Abstract

Many have called for algorithmic accountability: laws governing decision-making by complex algorithms, or AI. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) now establishes exactly this. The recent debate over the right to explanation (a right to information about individual decisions made by algorithms) has obscured the significant algorithmic accountability regime established by the GDPR. The GDPR’s provisions on algorithmic accountability, which include a right to explanation, have the potential to be broader, stronger, and deeper than the preceding requirements of the Data Protection Directive. This Essay clarifies, largely for a U.S. audience, what the GDPR actually requires, incorporating recently released authoritative guidelines.

Comments

"© 2019 Margot E. Kaminski."

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