Emerging Technologies and Vulnerabilities: From a Risk-Based Approach to a Rights-Promotion Paradigm

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between emerging technologies and vulnerabilities through the analytical distinction between the European paradigm of risk protection and an emerging national paradigm oriented toward the promotion of fundamental rights. EU digital regulation largely adopts a precautionary and risk-management approach aimed at safeguarding the internal market and ensuring minimum standards of rights protection. Within this framework, national constitutional systems may develop complementary strategies focused on the active promotion of rights. The Italian case illustrates how digital technologies can operate as enabling infrastructures for dignity, autonomy, and participation, particularly in relation to vulnerable individuals and contexts.