Playing God: Human Digital Twin. A legal approach

Abstract

uman Digital Twins (HDTs) seem futuristic, but the technology behind them is already a reality. Two elements make up HDTs technology: the real person and his or her digital counterpart/twin, as well as two-way communication between them. Furthermore, the actual surroundings and people that the twin interacts with in real life are transferred into cyberspace. A complete HDT does not exist, yet. In most cases, only certain aspects of human attributes are used in a particular context for specific purposes. But the technology will be able, sooner or later, to „create” a “full” HDT. This endeavour could be equated with a God creation, if we admit that God exists. To prepare to face the future, which is already here, everybody should be at least well informed. Therefore, in this article we will try to depict a comprehensible portrait of the HDTs. We will start by making a brief presentation of what Digital Twins (DTs) and HDTs technologies mean, their functioning, and their practical applications. We will focus afterwards on the legal issues concerning HDTs in an EU legal context. We will try to clarify the applicable rules and the HDTs ownership and other possible proprietary rights, such as intellectual property ones. Last, we will name a few legal and other concerns connected with HDTs.

Keywords

• digital twin
• human digital twin
• artificial intelligence
• personal data.