Abstract: Human 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
Acknowledgement: This work was supported by a grant of the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization, CNCS – UEFISCDI, project number PN-III-P4-PCE-2021-1878, within PNCDI III ‘Institutions, digitalization and regional development in the European Union’.
References:
Barricelli B.R., Casiraghi E., Gliozzo J., Petrini A., Valtolina S., Human digital twin for fitness management, in IEEE Access, volume 8, 2020, 26637–26664, https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2971576.
Beduschi A., Synthetic data protection: Towards a paradigm change in data regulation?, in Big Data & Society, 11(1), 2024, https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517241231277.
Cellina M., Cè M., Alì M., Irmici G., Ibba S., Caloro E., Fazzini D., Oliva G., Papa S., Digital Twins: The New Frontier for Personalized Medicine?, in Applied Sciences 13, no. 13/2023, https://doi.org/10.3390/app13137940, p. 12.
Cheng, Z., Human digital twin with applications, in Proceedings of the 7th International Digital Human Modeling Symposium 7(1): 41, 2022, https://doi.org/10.17077/dhm.31783.
Corral-Acero J., Margara F., Marciniak M., Rodero C., Loncaric F., Feng Y., Gilbert A., Fernandes J.F., Bukhari H., Wajdan A., Martinez M.V., Santos M.S., Shamohammdi M., Luo H., Westphal P., Leeson P., DiAchille P., Gurev V., Mayr M., Geris L., Pathmanathan P., Morrison T., Cornelussen R., Prinzen F., Delhaas T., Doltra A., Sitges M., Vigmond E.J., Zacur E., Grau V., Rodriguez B., Remme E.W., Niederer S., Mortier P., McLeod K., Potse M., Pueyo E., Bueno-Orovio A., Lamata P., The ‘Digital Twin’ to enable the vision of precision cardiology, in European Heart Journal, Volume 41, Issue 48, 21 December 2020, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehaa159, pp. 4556–4564.
Dai Y., Wang J., Gao S., Advanced Electronics and Artificial Intelligence: Must-Have Technologies Toward Human Body Digital Twins, in Advanced Intelligent Systems, Influence Series, vol. 4, issues 2, 2022, 2100263 (1-11), https://doi.org/10.1002/aisy.202100263.
Douglass K., Lamb A., Lu J., Ono K., Tenpas W., The Mathematical Intellinger, ‘Digital Twins’ Give Olympic Swimmers a Boost, July 8, 2024, [Online]
Duan H., Gao S., Yang X., Li Y., The development of a digital twin concept system, in Digital Twin 2023, 2:10, https://doi.org/10.12688/digitaltwin.17599.2.
European Commission, Shaping Europe’s digital future. European Virtual Human Twins Initiative, [Online]
European Medicines Agency, Guideline on computerised systems and electronic data in clinical trials, March 9th, 2023, [Online]
Grieves M., Digital twin: manufacturing excellence through virtual factory replication, in White paper, 2015, [Online]
Kamel Boulos M.N., Zhang P., Digital Twins: From Personalised Medicine to Precision Public Health, in Journal of Personalized Medicine, volume 11, issue 8, 2021, https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm11080745, pp. 2-8.
Khalid M.I., Ahmed M., Kim J., Enhancing Data Protection in Dynamic Consent Management Systems: Formalizing Privacy and Security Definitions with Differential Privacy, Decentralization, and Zero-Knowledge Proofs, in Sensors 2023, 23, 7604, https://doi.org/10.3390/s23177604.
KU Leuven, The pitfalls of digital twins, in KU Leuven Stories -The power of wonder, 2023, [Online]
Lehmann M., Seeking an Edge in Judicial Competition: England is Becoming the Leading Crypto Litigation Hub, 11 July 2024, [Online] at https://eapil.org/2024/07/11/, accessed on July 13th, 2024.
Liu T., Weng C., Jiang Q., Jiao L., Ni Z., Modelling Human Digital Twins Based on Physical and Mental Fusion, in NSFC-RGC Conference 2023, https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.23742.77121, [Online]
Miller M., Human Digital Twin and Modeling Guidebook, in Air Force Institute of Technology – Technical Report, December 19, 2022, pp. 2-8, [Online]
Miller M.E., Spatz E., A unified view of a human digital twin, in Human-Intelligent Systems Integration, (2022) 4, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42454-022-00041-x, pp. 23-29.
Naudet Y., Baudet A., Risse M., Human Digital Twin in Industry 4.0: Concept and Preliminary Model, in IN4PL - Proceedings of the International Conference on Innovative Intelligent Industrial Production and Logistics, pp. 137-144, 2021, https://doi.org/10.5220/0010709000003062.
Novelli C., Hacker P., Morley J., Trondal J., Floridi L., A Robust Governance for the AI Act: AI Office, AI Board, Scientific Panel, and National Authorities, in Centre for Digital Ethics (CEDE) Research Paper Series, May 5, 2024, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4817755.
Pascual H., Masip-Bruin X., Alonso A., Cerdá J., A Systematic Review on Human Modeling: Digging into Human Digital Twin Implementations, 2023, arxiv Publisher, https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2302.03593, pp. 1-8.
Păvăloaia V.D., Necula S.C., Artificial Intelligence as a Disruptive Technology—A Systematic Literature Review, in Electronics 2023, 12, 1102, https:// doi.org/10.3390/electronics12051102, pp. 1-2.
Popa E.O., van Hilten M., Oosterkamp E., Bogaardt M.-J., The use of digital twins in healthcare: socio-ethical benefits and socio-ethical risks, in Life Sciences, Society and Policy, issue 17, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40504-021-00113-x.
Santos C., Nouwens M., Toth M., Bielova N., Roca V., Consent Management Platforms Under the GDPR: Processors and/or Controllers?, in: Gruschka N., Antunes L.F.C., Rannenberg K., Drogkaris P. (eds), Privacy Technologies and Policy, APF 2021, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 12703. Springer, Cham., https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76663-4_3.
Saracco R., Personal Digital Twins. A third evolution step for humankind?, eBook, 2022, p. 23-29, [Online]
Shengli W., Is Human Digital Twin possible?, în Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine Update, volume 1, 2021, pp. 1-4, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmpbup.2021.100014.
Song Y., Human Digital Twin, the Development and Impact on Design, in Journal of Computing and Information Science in Engineering, vol. 23, issue 6, 2023, Paper No: JCISE-23-1076, pp. 4-5, https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4063132.
Tang C., Yi W., Occhipinti E., Dai Y., Gao S., Occhipinti L.G., Human Body Digital Twin: A Master Plan, 18 July 2023, last revised 12 September 2023, https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2307.09225, [Online]
Tataru S.R., Soluționarea litigiilor referitoare la contractele de comerț internațional cu produse farmaceutice, Ed. Hamangiu, București, 2020, p. 28.
Tekinerdogan B., On the Notion of Digital Twins: A Modeling Perspective, in Systems 11, volume 15, issue 1, 2023, https://doi.org/10.3390/systems11010015.
Teller M., Legal aspects related to digital twin, in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 4 October 2021, volume 379, Issue 2207, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2021.0023.
Ungureanu C.T., Proprietatea asupra datelor digitale: realități, neliniști și posibile soluții, în Revista Română de Drept Privat nr. 2/2023, pp. 75-90.
Ungureanu C.T., Tataru S.R., The legality of reverse engineering or how to legally decipher trade secrets, SHS Web of Conferences vol. 177/2023, article number 02001, Legal Perspectives on the Internet. COPEJI 6.0, .org/10.1051/shsconf/202317702001">http://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202317702001.
2.1.pdf