Automated decisions based on profiling: Information, explanation or justification –that’s the question!

Within the academic community, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has triggered a lively debate regarding whether data subjects have a ‘right to explanation’ of automated decisions made about them. At one end of the spectrum, we see scholars arguing that no such right exists under the GDPR but rather a ‘limited right to information’ only.[1] Others argue that this position is based on a very narrow reading of the relevant provisions of the GDPR, and that a contextual interpretation shows that the GDPR does indeed provide for a right to explanation with respect to automated decisions.[2] We wholeheartedly agree with the latter interpretation and set out why below. That being said, we think that all sides are missing the broader context.