Ambient Intelligence

Abstract

Unprecedented advances of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) and their involvement in most of private and public activities are revolutionizing daily life and our relationship to our environments. If, on the one hand, the new developments promise to make people's lives more comfortable or more secure, on the other hand, they raise complex social and legal issues in terms of fundamental rights and freedoms. The objective of this paper is to envisage some of the main legal challenges posed by the new Ambient Intelligence technologies (AmI), in particular for the fundamental rights of privacy and data protection, while trying to sketch some possible solutions. After analyzing the possible applications of AmI technologies and the evolution of the concept of privacy, the chapter considers the adequacy of the current legal regulation models to respond to these new challenges. Attention will be paid to the possible use of these new technologies for security purposes, and therefore to the issue of balancing opposed interests and rights according to the principles appropriate for a democratic society.Request access from your librarian to read this chapter's full text.