The online world is increasingly shaped by forces beyond our control.  Algorithmic processing agents are used by a wide range of web publishers, online retailers and social media companies to determine the kinds of stories that are feature to online readers, the advertisements that are targeted to online shoppers, and the search results they see, to name just a few of the ways in which these hidden programs predict the shape and content of our online experience.

US and EU privacy regulators have developed different models for managing the potential negative impacts of online profiling. In a recent article for the ABA Journal of Media, Information and Communications Law, Ballard Partner Phil Yannella examines these differing approaches.