Concise Conclusions: Citizens out of Control

For a summary of the contributions we refer to the introductory chapter. In this chapter we undertake to draw some summary conclusions. It seems that profiling, especially in the context of smart applications and Ambient Intelligence, requires a focus shift from data to knowledge, while the type of knowledge that is at stake differs from more traditional knowledge production. We conclude that this shift has far-reaching implications for the relationship between citizens, commercial enterprise and governmental powers. This requires lawyers, policy makers, computer engineers and politicians to rethink the socio-technical infrastructure of constitutional democracy. Citizenship, participation in the creation of the common good and personal freedom cannot be taken for granted, they presume that citizens have some awareness of what is known about them and by whom.