A/79/173
Governments and corporations within the overarching framework of the human right
to privacy”. 19
24. He highlighted in the report that both the processing of data through artificial
intelligence-based tools and the decision made as a result of such processing have
potential risks for the data subject. Therefore, he considered it important to set forth
a number of principles that should be taken into account in the planning, development
and implementation of artificial intelligence-based solutions, namely: (a) jurisdiction;
(b) ethical and lawful basis; (c) data fundamentals; (d) responsibility and over sight;
(e) control; (f) transparency and “explainability”; (g) rights of the data subject; and
(h) safeguards.
25. In a subsequent report, the Special Rapporteur referred to the principles of
transparency and explainability in the processing of personal data in artificial
intelligence and emphasized the importance of these principles in that context. 20
26. These principles are relevant because transparency and explainability not only
help to build trust and reliability in artificial intelligence, but also contribute to the
protection of human rights. These principles allow individuals affected by artific ial
intelligence to be informed in a timely, comprehensive, simple and clear manner about
basic issues concerning the use of their personal information in artificial intelligence
processes or projects and the consequences thereof, and about the specific re asons
why they have been affected. This makes it possible for them to exercise their rights,
such as the right to due process and to a defence when faced with decisions made
using artificial intelligence tools or technologies.
27. In the report, the Special Rapporteur indicated that artificial intelligence
involved different types of risk. The contingencies that should be considered include
the risks inherent in operating with algorithms (human bias, technical flaws, security
vulnerabilities and failures in their implementation), in their design and in the
processing of personal data.
28. The Special Rapporteur also pointed out that personal data were an input
processed by algorithms to produce results. Data input can be affected mainly by bias
(incorporation of partial, insufficient, outdated or manipulated data) and pertinence
(relevance, inconsistency or completeness of the data). If high-quality and pertinent
data are not used, the results will be erroneous. Algorithms, for their part, can be
affected by patterns (programming logic bias, including unforeseen functions and
inherent failures of the functions used for their codification), and errors (operating
conditions that reflect a method of operation that differs from the method of operation
planned and goes against the premise of the proposed design). These issues have an
impact on the results obtained using artificial intelligence-based tools, which are
related to the pertinence and precision of the execution of the algorithms and are a
result of the analysis of the data input.
29.
The following were among the conclusions drawn in the report:
(a) Transparency and explainability help to build trust in artificial intelligence
and to respect human rights;
(b) Developers of artificial intelligence must be transparent about how data
are processed (how they are collected, stored and used), and about how decisions
based on artificial intelligence are made, the reliability of such decisions and the
security of the information;
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19
20
24-13146
Ibid., para. 1.
“Principles of transparency and explainability in the processing of personal data in artificial
intelligence”, report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy ( A/78/310, 30 August 2023).
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