There remains, however, a deep paradox that both Julie Cohen and Mireille Hildebrandt note: that practices of data colonialism are potentially eroding the very notion of the rational, reflexive, law-respecting human subject on which the legitimacy of law itself depends. Meanwhile, courts in various countries have become early adopters of algorithmic processing, and much of the power to regulate infringements of autonomy is now delegated to commercial platforms, with dangerous practical and normative implications. In the age of datafication, legal institutions need to defend some version of the principle of autonomy for their own survival.

Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, loc. 564