Contemporary public administration can function as a virtual organisation that uses digital technology and artificial intelligence to achieve its goals and fulfil its tasks, rather than physical presence and personal contact. Virtualisation is associated with concerns about losing control over key decisions. This point of view is expressed in the discussion of the right to human decision-making or well-calibrated automated decision-making. Technology raises concerns about the ability to understand artificial reasoning and its methods of classification, personalisation and prediction. The use of artificial intelligence tools leads to the question of whether the standards of technologists will surpass those of lawyers and whether the current legal principles in public administration can be sufficient. The concept of virtual administrative law unveils the physiognomy of a public administration that applies digital rules. If artificial public administration remains under our control, virtualisation has the nature of a meta-principle in the sense that the principles of general administrative law are interpreted with respect to the way in which new information technologies change the exercise of public power.

Technological developments and the risks of cyber threats are prompting a change in the perception of privacy in smart cities. The concept of smart cities relies on continuous, ubiquitous data collection. In recent years, there has been a heated debate about whether society is moving towards zero privacy in the digital age. The term digital privacy has emerged, addressing concerns that anything that does not belong to the public but is committed to digital form may be subject to immediate and inevitable distribution. The design of Humane Smart Cities reflects the need for the power of technology to manifest itself in connection with the authentic interests of the city’s inhabitants. Most recently, we encounter the Smart Cities More Than Human project, creating a socially and ecologically fair hybrid space. However, this does not change the fact that we live in an age where people cannot simply withdraw into privacy by refusing to use certain technology. Privacy safeguards allow people to use smart city services without fear of unnecessary disruption or distortion.