Enough with ‘AI innovation’, Labour’s Data Bill threatens our privacy and deserves proper scrutiny, writes Big Brother Watch director Silkie Carlo in today’s Notebook
For all the hype in Westminster about AI, sometimes the most significant developments happen with little public awareness at all.
Tomorrow, parliament will debate highly technical legal changes in Labour’s broadly overlooked Data (Use and Access) Bill – but these changes will open the floodgates to secretive automated decision making in public life.
Most of the words we hear from the Labour government on AI are about “innovation” and growth” – but AI affects much more than GDP. It affects fairness, justice, privacy, health – even our right to life.
Already, opaque algorithms are used by the NHS in life and death decisions about who should be offered an organ transplant. Some police forces use AI cameras to decide whether to stop and question members of the public; some even use AI data crunchers to decide whether to prosecute suspects or not. The government uses algorithms to flag members of the public as potential fraudsters, triggering investigations. The national exam regulator even used automation for A-level grading, unfairly downgrading thousands of students’ futures.
This is the tip of the iceberg in our increasingly automated world.
Currently, the UK’s laws are some of the most ill-equipped in Europe in terms of protecting the public from the risks of machine governance. And yet Labour’s Bill being debated in the House of Lords tomorrow is designed to water down the few safeguards we currently have with the aim of “authorising ADM (automated decision-making) for all purposes”. The government’s human rights memo with the Bill even says the increased risks of undermining the public’s privacy and increasing discrimination are “justifiable” if it helps “the economic wellbeing of the country”.
Eyes are on Liberal Democrat peer and lawyer Lord Clement-Jones, who will lead members of the House in trying to stop this bleak, somewhat inhumane vision for the future.
Supermarket surveillance
Supermarket boss Richard Walker is considering rolling out live facial recognition cameras on Iceland’s entrances to scan the faces of all shoppers as they enter. The proposal follows rising shoplifting since the cost of living crisis and the failure of police to attend retail (or indeed, many) crimes. But should retailers treat millions of innocent Britons like potential criminals?
Shoppers may think that if they’ve nothing to hide they’ve nothing to fear – but innocent members of the public say they’ve been falsely flagged by similar scanners used by stores like Sports Direct and Home Bargains. From teenagers to elderly ladies, Big Brother Watch has been inundated by people wrongly accused of being shoplifters, publicly humiliated and then technologically banned from their local shops.
Walker, who has explored being both a Tory and Labour parliamentary candidate in recent years, was quick to bat down privacy concerns saying they were not grounded in the “real world”. However, his vision of the “real world” is like an episode of Black Mirror. I can see why he’s attracted to parliament.
Is your social media being monitored?
You may not know of the government’s Counter Disinformation Unit – but the Unit may know of you…
It’s a team of civil servants who scour the internet for ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’, which they can flag to social media companies for censorship. Big Brother Watch’s investigation found they was monitoring not just ‘disinformation’ but dissent against government policies – including from journalists and MPs.
Following our expose, a parliamentary committee recommended that this shady censorship cell is opened up to an independent review given its threat to civil liberties. Shamefully, the government have now pithily replied that they have “no plans” to comply with this, adding another red mark against the Starmer administration’s track record when it comes to protecting free speech.
A festive recommendation: Piggy philanthropy
Christmas is the time for giving – and I’m always on the lookout for charitable gifts. My family regularly expect to receive sponsorships for adopted pigs (Viva!) or rescued turkeys (Raystede), or donated Christmas lunches for disabled dogs (Dogs 4 Rescue). If you’re looking for a worthwhile gift that gives all year round, consider supporting Big Brother Watch to protect Britain’s privacy and free speech. Monthly donations come with free gifts from stickers to t-shirts and more – all great stocking fillers!