What if data protection embraced foresight and speculative design?

Due to rapid technological advancements and the growing “datafication” of
our societies, individuals’ privacy constitutes an increasingly explored speculative
space for regulators, researchers, practitioners, designers and artists. This article
reports two experiences at a national and an international data protection authority
(i.e., the Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés - CNIL - and the
European Data Protection Supervisor - EDPS - respectively), where foresight methods
and speculative design are employed in policy-making with the goal of anticipating
technological trends, their implications for society and their impact on regulations, as
well as the effects of existing and upcoming laws on emerging technologies. Such
initiatives can enhance strategic proactive abilities, raise public awareness of privacy
issues and engender a participatory approach to the design of policies. They can also
inspire the research, education and practice of legal design.