We’re delighted to have launched our Wellbeing Analytics Code of Practice, something we’ve been working on in the ICO’s Regulatory Sandbox for almost exactly a year. The resulting Code builds on Jisc’s widely-used Learning Analytics Code of Practice and includes tools for Data Protection Impact Assessment and Purpose Compatibility assessment. We hope it will give […]
Category: Articles
Thoughts on regulatory and ethical issues relating to the use of technology in education and research
Categories
Ethical AI – HOWTO
A couple of new documents provide ideas on how to think about ethics when we deploy Artificial Intelligence. First is an article by Linda Thornton for EDUCAUSE, on Artificial Intelligence and Ethical Accountability. This looks at who should be thinking ethically, finding responsibilities for programmers, managers, marketers, salespeople and organisations that implement AI. Since this […]
Categories
Schrems II: SCCs plus… what?
The recent Schrems II decision on Standard Contractual Clauses found that, in some situations, data exporters and importers might need to agree additional measures beyond just relying on SCCs. While we’re waiting for the Information Commissioner and EDPB to give more detailed advice on which situations and which measures, here are some themes I’ve spotted […]
[UPDATE 27/7/20: the ICO has now published a statement on the decision] On July 16th 2020, the European Court of Justice made its long-awaited decision in the case of Data Protection Commissioner [Ireland] v Facebook Ireland Ltd and Maximillian Schrems, generally known as “Schrems II”. This concerned two of the GDPR’s mechanisms for transferring personal […]
Categories
New Presidency: new ePrivacy progress?
It seems a long time since I wrote about the ePrivacy Regulation. This was supposed to come into force alongside the GDPR, back in May 2018, and provide specific guidance on its application to the communications sector. You may remember it as “Cookie law”, though it was never just that. Unfortunately its scope grew and, […]
Categories
AI: Don’t Stare
An interesting virtual water-cooler discussion with colleagues who are exploring the potential of AI as a Service. They tested a selection of easily available cloud face-processing systems on a recording of one of our internal Zoom meetings, and were startled by the results. Face identification wasn’t a surprise: everyone who has changed the background on […]
Categories
Identity without identifying
In the week that would have been their annual conference, EEMA have been hosting a series of fascinating online discussions among experts in the identity world. Today’s featured Steve Purser, Dave Birch and Kim Cameron in a deep discussion about whether we might have been looking at the wrong kind of “identity” all along… The […]
Categories
Regulating Online Harms
This morning’s Westminster e-Forum event on regulating Online Harms contained a particularly rich discussion of both the challenges and opportunities of using regulation to reduce the amount of harmful content we see on the Internet. The Government published a white paper in April 2019 and an initial response to comments in February 2020. A full […]
Categories
Consent/Ethics? There’s more…
As data protection regulators keep reminding us, the research and data protection communities mean different things when they talk about “consent”. A couple of recent conversations have made me wonder whether that terminology clash may have another effect: are those putting research into practice missing out on existing guidance that could help with that transition? […]
Categories
Future of Learning in a Digital World
Tony Sheehan, of Gartner, observed in this morning’s EUNIS 2020 keynote that Higher Education has changed more in the past three months than in the whole of his previous career. Universities have delivered an “extraordinary achievement” in delivering learning continuity through various intensities of COVID-19 lockdown. Now we’re approaching a recovery stage when we can […]