ALT invites Member input to Technology and Data Ethics Inquiry

ALT is now looking for input from Members including case studies for this Call for evidence: data and technology ethics in education, health, smart vehicles & policing.  ALT was represented at the roundtable on Education in November 2018 and we are now collating written evidence for submission. 

Universities and colleges can learn a lot about students behaviour and use predictive analytics to target those with specific needs or who may be about to drop out of a course, significantly improving their life outcomes, however monitoring student attendance, library use, internet browsing, etc. may be viewed as undue surveillance

The key inquiry questions are:  

  1. Where is the government seen as being particularly strong or weak on the use and promotion of big data in the wider economy?  

  2. How can government and businesses promote trust within the public sphere?  What emerging technologies are making use of big data in new ways?

  3. How to reconcile security and privacy in the public sphere when regulating technology?  

  4. Who owns data, with regard to the rise of the ‘digital divide’ between individuals, the state and private business?  

  5. What changes in the nature of informed consent have there been since the introduction of GDPR?  

  6. Can ‘social consent’ replace individual consent?  

  7. To what level can ‘social benefit’ override personal privacy and use of data by public institutions?

Please submit your response and case studies here by 7 January 2019

More information

Policy Connect and All-Party Parliamentary Group on Data Analytics launch landmark inquiry into data and technology ethics

Taming the new Wild West: Data and Technology Ethics fit for our time

Data’s role in our lives has increased but regulators are struggling to keep up with the pace of change. It’s clear that the UK, like many other countries, is facing a data and technology governance gap. This is why a cross-party inquiry from Policy Connect and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Data Analytics is researching clearer principles and best practice standards for data use.

To remain at the forefront of the technological global race, the UK – through both public and private enterprise – must address ethical concerns now, rather than fix problems as they arise and be left on the back foot.

The Data and Technology Ethics Inquiry will concentrate on the areas of trust, ethics and good governance. This includes public trust, business confidence, and the trade-offs between privacy and progress that are inherent in technology developments and big data. The research will also examine the need for good governance in the tech sphere and accountability and redress when the first line of trust is broken.

With the backing of Jisc, Deloitte and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the inquiry will focus on areas of society that feel the huge benefits of using data and technology, but also demonstrate unique ethical concerns around privacy, lack of transparency in algorithm bias, surveillance, and potential for fraud and exploitation.

Its recommendations will be targeted to advise the newly-established Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation.

The call for evidence can be found here.

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