The Individual in The Big Data Era: Moving Towards an Agent- Based Privacy Paradigm

The current human rights framework in general and the privacy paradigm in particular is based on the individual in a threefold manner: (1) it provides him with a subjective right, (2) to protect his personal interest and (3) the outcome of a court case is determined by balancing the individual against a societal interest. Big Data processes, however, do not revolve around individuals; they focus on large groups and have an impact on society in general. Consequently, the focus on the individual and his interests is becoming increasingly obsolete. To remedy this fact, privacy scholars have suggested to reformulate privacy either as a group right, a societal interest or a precondition for a democratic society. Focusing on other than individual interests obviously has an impact on the way rights and legal claims are attributed, how rules are enforced and how the outcome of legal cases is determined. This contribution discusses the different suggestions that have been put forward and determines in how far they might ameliorate the current privacy paradigm.