General Principles of Code

Abstract

The General Data Protection Regulation has been seen as an omnibus law which potentially addresses all Internet-related problems. Yet, concerns have been raised about the broad scope of the GDPR that might be overreaching its capacity. Calls have been made to create a scalable and more targeted system of legal protection against digital wrongs. General principles governing the design and use of software should be at the foundation of such a scalable system. While automation via code is often an aspect of existing societal problems, software affordances amplify non-technology-specific problems in a unique way.