EUIPO Conference - Our Founding Lawyer discusses AI, Online Dispute Resolution and Privacy Risks!
Charlotte Gerrish, our Founding Lawyer spoke at the recent EUIPO Mediation Conference in Alicante, discussing the opportunities arising out of online and Ai-fuelled dispute resolution and the challenges relating to privacy and data protection.
The EUIPO Boards of Appeal, together with the EUIPO Academy and the International Cooperation and Legal Affairs Department of EUIPO, held the second IP Mediation Conference on 30 and 31 May 2019.
The conference took place at EUIPO’s headquarters in Alicante, Spain where leading industry experts shared insights on wide range of topics in the field of intellectual property mediation.
Our Founding Lawyer, Charlotte Gerrish spoke as part of a panel dealing with Artificial Intelligence and mediation, which provided an in-depth look at how AI has developed over recent years, and how it is becoming a useful tool in supporting and facilitating the mediation process for intellectual property disputes, and across the board with a focus on the risks related to personal data and privacy arising out of the use of online mediation and AI mediation generally including:
EUIPO IP Mediation Conference - Artificial Intelligence and Mediation, Data Protection and Privacy Risks
EUIPO IP Mediation Conference - Artificial Intelligence and Mediation, Data Protection and Privacy Risks
EUIPO IP Mediation Conference - Artificial Intelligence and Mediation, Data Protection and Privacy Risks
Whether online ADR a risk to privacy? Or is privacy a risk to the development of online ADR?
What are the key privacy risks relating to the use of AI and online mediation (with a focus on requirements of the GDPR specifically – confidentiality and security of data, profiling, sensitive data).
Can there be lawful bases for processing data when using online ADR? ADR is founded on the consent of the parties. Discussion will focus on of the lawful bases to process personal data within mediation (consent,pursuant to acontract).
Solutions / Workarounds – Often AI and online ADR are seen as a risk to privacy. You could argue that privacy and the stakeholders’ lack of understanding is a risk to thedevelopment of ADR.? However, this does not have to be the case. Privacy by design, education and systems can be envisaged to overcome obstacles
The main takeaway?
Whilst fully automated, AI fuelled processes might be the goal for some, nothing can beat some human intervention, meaning that humans and machines each have their unique added value to bring to the table. AI is complimentary and shouldn’t totally replace us, at least in some areas of law and society. Furthermore, it is possible that privacy and personal data laws such as the GDPR may be a threat to the development of AI, and that the use of AI and new technologies may be a threat to privacy, but this does not have to be the case provided that developers and lawyers work closely together to safeguard these fundamental rights.
A copy of the presentation is available here.
For more information about how privacy rights and the GDPR interact with new technologies generally, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!