Meaningful information and the right to explanation

TLDR

The GDPR does not contain a single provision titled the “right to explanation,” yet Articles 13–15 guarantee a right to meaningful information about the logic underlying automated decisions. The authors argue for a functional, flexible interpretation of the GDPR’s right to explanation, insisting it should enable data subjects to exercise their rights under both GDPR and human‑rights law.

Abstract

There is no single, neat statutory provision labeled the “right to explanation” in Europe’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). But nor is such a right illusory. Responding to two prominent papers that, in turn, conjure and critique the right to explanation in the context of automated decision-making, we advocate a return to the text of the GDPR. Articles 13-15 provide rights to “meaningful information about the logic involved” in automated decisions. This is a right to explanation, whether one uses the phrase or not. The right to explanation should be interpreted functionally, flexibly, and should, at a minimum, enable a data subject to exercise his or her rights under the GDPR and human rights law.