Paul-Olivier Dehaye

See the Wikidata entry for more information about Paul-Olivier Dehaye.

With a background in mathematical research, he has extensively researched personal data ecosystems as far as his own personal data is concerned. In one notable case, he found out advertisers were profiling him on medical conditions. In another, he went to Arbitration Court and forced them to change their practices. His efforts have been extensively documented, including by trade publications in the adtech business.

Switching to a different mode, he has also helped journalists cover this issue, in various ways:

• he was instrumental in uncovering the Cambridge Analytica scandal (through research contributed to many articles on the topic, by helping David Carroll and Jeremy Merrill file Subject Access Requests;
• through his work with Carole Cadwalladr, he clarified the links between Cambridge Analytica and the UK Brexit referendum, including the relevance of car insurer Eldon Insurance (by helping Carole file a SAR);
• he has helped journalist Judith Duportail get her data from Tinder (she got 800 pages!), and written an op-ed about the experience;

He has helped thousands in the general public file SARs to Tinder, Facebook or Uber, leading all those companies to change their practices.

He has also testified in the European Parliament (multiple times) and in the UK Parliament.