ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY: LEGAL CHALLENGES IN THE PROTECTION OF PERSONAL DATA

The rapid diffusion of artificial intelligence (AI) systems across commerce, government, and daily life has intensified long-standing tensions between technological innovation and the right to privacy. AI systems depend on the large-scale collection, aggregation, and inferential processing of personal data, often in ways that strain the foundational principles of data protection law, including purpose limitation, data minimisation, consent, and transparency. This paper examines the legal challenges that artificial intelligence poses to the protection of personal data, drawing on comparative analysis of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation and Artificial Intelligence Act, the sectoral and state-based framework of the United States, and emerging approaches in other jurisdictions. It identifies recurring points of friction, including the opacity of algorithmic decision-making, the difficulty of applying consent-based models to machine learning training, the phenomenon of inference of sensitive attributes from ostensibly non-sensitive data, the tension between data minimisation and data-hungry model development, and the practical impossibility of full erasure once personal data has been absorbed into a trained model. The paper further considers enforcement fragmentation between data protection authorities and AI-specific regulators, cross-border data transfer complications, and the growing use of biometric and profiling technologies. Through analysis of statutory text, regulatory guidance, and enforcement trends current as of mid-2026, the paper argues that existing privacy frameworks, though adaptable in principle, require targeted reform, technical standard-setting, and closer institutional coordination to remain effective against AI-driven risks to personal data. The paper concludes with policy recommendations aimed at reconciling innovation incentives with the enduring legal and normative value of privacy as a fundamental right.