Averting enfeeblement and fostering empowerment: algorithmic rights and the right to good administration

Abstract

This is a paper about the need for algorithmic rights: the right to algorithmic transparency and algorithmic explainability; the right to be informed if we are interacting with an automated system; the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing; and the right not to depend on an algorithmic system for compliance with our fundamental rights, but to instead choose human interaction in ensuring such compliance. There are several angles from which these rights can be discussed, but I will be looking at them as tools of empowerment supporting the right to good administration in the EU, where they can help us meet the challenge of good governance in an algorithm-based and data-driven public sector, and can in this way help to strengthen the rule of law and the fundamental rights that are central to it.