Responsibilities of Companies in the Algorithmic Society

The major focus of the book is on the constitutional challenges of the algorithmic society. In the public/private divide type of thinking, such an approach puts the constitution and thereby the state into the limelight. There is a dense debate on the changing role of the nation-state in the aftermath of what is called globalization and how the transformation of the state is affecting private law and thereby private parties. This implies the question of whether the public/private divide can still serve as a useful tool to design responsibilities on both sides, public and private. If we ask for a constitutional framing of business activities in a globalized world, there are two possible approaches: the first is the external or the outer reach of national constitutions; the second the potential impact of a global constitution. Our approach is broader and narrower at the same time. It is broader as we do not look at the constitutional dimension alone, but at the public/private law below the constitution and at the role and impact on private responsibilities, it is narrower as we will neither engage in the debate on the external/outer reach of nation-state constitutions nor on the existence of a ‘Global Constitution’ or an ‘International Economic Constitution’, based on the GATT/WTO and international human rights. Such