Automated Decision-Making

The process of making decisions about individuals using automated means, typically involving AI or algorithmic systems, with limited or no human intervention. Under the GDPR, "solely automated" decisions that produce "legal or similarly significant effects" on individuals are subject to strict restrictions: they are generally prohibited unless based on explicit consent, contract necessity, or legal authorization. Data subjects have rights to obtain human intervention, express their point of view, and contest such decisions. For people with disabilities, these protections are particularly important as AI systems may systematically underperform for disabled users or encode discriminatory patterns from training data.