Personal Data Protection in the Age of AI: Can an Essentially Normative Approach Be Defended in an Era of Privacy Renunciation?

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Data Protection, Privacy, Secondary Use, Pseudonymisation, Digital Literacy

Abstract

The relationship between AI and the secondary use of data is inextricable, such that data may be described as the fuel that powers the AI engine. AI is, in essence, an advanced information-processing technology, and its full development necessarily involves an initial phase of data collection, preceding the subsequent stages of model construction and implementation. Accordingly, issues concerning the right to privacy and data confidentiality acquire renewed significance in this context. In response, a traditional regulatory approach has been proposed to safeguard such rights against the risks and emerging conflicts posed by AI. However, this approach overlooks the fact that these rights have, to a large extent, been voluntarily relinquished by a significant portion of the population, which has prioritized the utility of new technological applications over the protection of privacy and data confidentiality. Therefore, a complementary educational approach, grounded in so-called digital literacy, is advisable.

Received: 24 May 2025
Accepted: 18 December 2025

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Author Biography

Federico de Montalvo Jääskeläinen, ICADE - Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, Madrid. España

Profesor propio ordinario de Derecho Constitucional

Published
2026-06-24
How to Cite
de Montalvo Jääskeläinen, Federico. 2026. “Personal Data Protection in the Age of AI: Can an Essentially Normative Approach Be Defended in an Era of Privacy Renunciation?”. Estudios De Deusto 74 (1), 159-200. https://doi.org/10.18543/ed.3578.
Section
Studies