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Function creep

By Updated

The gradual reuse of personal data or an AI system for purposes nobody approved, usually by configuration rather than a new release. For personal data it breaches purpose limitation unless a compatibility assessment or new basis covers the new use 1; negative space in the deployment record makes it detectable.

Developed in
ch. 19, Purpose limitation and function creep
ch. 15, Secondary use and downstream harm
ch. 05, Pattern: Downstream Use Register
Chapters
ch. 05, Patterns · ch. 14, Development · ch. 15, Deployment · ch. 19, Privacy & AI
Source
1 numbered reference, listed below

Where it is used

2 chapters of the Body of Knowledge use the term. Each link opens the first section that does.

Patterns that use this term

One pattern page uses the term.

  • Downstream use register

    The record of every consumer of an AI system's outputs (a system, team, partner or training pipeline), each with its approved use, the re-test that cleared…

  • Purpose limitation

    The GDPR principle that personal data collected for a specified purpose may not be further processed in an incompatible way; Article 6(4) sets the…

  • Reasonably foreseeable misuse

    Use of an AI system not in accordance with its intended purpose that may result from reasonably foreseeable human behaviour or interaction with other systems…

  • Negative space

    The uses an AI system is explicitly not for, written into its Deployment Decision Record.

  • AI system

    For governance, the object the AI definition brings into scope.

Sources

  1. [1] Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation) (Arts. 4(1), 4(5), 4(7), 4(8), 4(12), 4(14), 5, 6, 9, 12(3), 22, 25, 28(2) and 28(4), 30, 33, 35; Recital 26). Publications Office of the EU (EUR-Lex). 2016-04-27. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj/eng (verified: primary)

Definitions of legal terms paraphrase the cited text, which governs. Dated statements are as of .

Cite this term

García Aibar, J. (2026). Function creep. In AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis & Body of Knowledge (v0.5.0), Glossary. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197. https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/function-creep. CC BY 4.0

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026functioncreep,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{Function creep}},
  note    = {Glossary, AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis \& Body of Knowledge, version 0.5.0},
  year    = {2026},
  doi     = {10.5281/zenodo.22956197},
  url     = {https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/function-creep}
}