Our data is besieged every day by tech companies, leading to hidden AI harms in the information economy. Companies can do this because our laws are built on outdated ideas that trap lawmakers, regulators, and courts into wrong assumptions, resulting in ineffective approaches to one of the most pressing concerns of our generation. Drawing on behavioral science, social data science, and economics, this book dispels enduring misconceptions about AI-driven interactions. Its exploration offers a view of why current regulations fail to protect us against digital harms, particularly those created by AI. The book then proposes a better response: accountability for corporate data practices. Ultimately, accountability requires creating a new type of liability system for AI harms that recognizes the social value of people’s privacy.

About the speaker: 

Ignacio Cofone is the Canada Research Chair in AI Law & Data Governance at McGill University, where he teaches Privacy Law and AI Regulation, and an affiliated fellow at the Yale Information Society Project. His research explores how laws should adapt to AI-driven social and economic change with a focus on data harms and AI. He held visiting positions at the universities of St. Gallen, Tilburg, Di Tella, and Oxford, and was a legal advisor for the City of Buenos Aires, a research fellow at the NYU School of Law, and a resident fellow at Yale Law School. His new book, The Privacy Fallacy: Harm and Power in the Information Economy, examines the importance of private enforcement in data protection law.

Contact: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ignaciocofone/