Dear Sir or Madam,

Regarding privacy and the freedom of thought and communication of
individuals in an internet age, what safeguards are government
authorities putting in place in protecting individuals from digital
oversight and control by machines?

My question is posed by the growing ability of computers within
networked system to generate their own code and operating systems
via neural net techniques etc.

Yours faithfully,

J.Rice

Dear Mr Rice

Thank you for your email asking what safeguards government authorities
are putting in place to protect individuals from digital oversight and
control by machines.

Whilst you have entitled your email 'Freedom of Information' request, it
is actually a general enquiry rather than a request for specific
information, or specific documents, held by the Information
Commissioner's Office.

Therefore, whilst we are not treating it as a request made under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000, it will be forwarded to our Customer
Service Team who will respond shortly.

Yours sincerely
Angela Ellison (Mrs)
Assistant Internal Compliance Manager

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Dear Internal Compliance Team,

Thanks for your reply and I look forward to your formal response.
You may have gathered that I am concerned with the increasing
interoperability and linking of networks and the threat this poses
as artificial intelligence improves.

Many may think these concerns are being expressed too early and
these are problems for the future say in 10 0r 20 years. However,
much of the digital infrastructure and interconnections that will
be present in 20 years time are being laid today we already have
Speed camera machine systems issuing penalties to humans without
any human oversight.

I look forward to your considered reply

Yours sincerely,

8th October 2008

Case Reference Number ENQ0211136

Dear Mr Rice

Thank you for your correspondence regarding privacy and the freedom of
thought and communication of individuals in an internet age.

The matters you have raised will be assigned to one of our casework teams
before being allocated to a case officer who will respond in line with our
current [1]service standards.

Should you wish to contact us about this matter please quote the above case
reference number. Failure to do so may delay the processing of your request.

If you require any further advice or assistance please contact our Helpline
on 01625 545745.

Yours sincerely

Signed on behalf of

Mr Paul Arnold

Head of Customer Service

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Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

References

1. http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints/unhappy...

20 November 2008

Dear Mr Rice,

Ref: ENQ0211136

In your email enquiry, dated 14 August 2008, you ask the Information
Commissioner’s Office (ICO) what, “safeguards are government authorities
putting in place in protecting individuals from digital oversight and
control by machines?”

The ICO, amongst other duties, administers the Data Protection Act 1998
(DPA). The DPA provides individuals with specific rights in respect of their
personal information: for example, the right to access information held
about you, or the right to claim compensation for any damage you may suffer.

The use of technology to assist information management and decision-making
can bring both benefits and risks. The ICO is aware of the privacy concerns
raised by the increasing use of information technology for surveillance: for
example, the use of facial recognition software in digital CCTV systems, or
the data mining of government or commercial data sets, for the purposes of
crime prevention or security.

The DPA also places a duty upon ‘data controllers’ – that is, any legal
person who determines the purposes for which and the manner in which
personal information shall be processed – to comply with the eight
principles of good information handling: for example, information shall be
accurate, not held for any longer than is necessary, and kept secure.

Whether surveillance is carried out by a human or, for example, by an
artificial neural network, a legal person (such as a government department
or a business) will ultimately be accountable for the processing of any
personal information, and the processing itself will be subject to the
principles of the DPA.

The ICO recommends that privacy concerns are identified at the early stage
of any proposed surveillance initiative so that these can be addressed and
safeguards built in rather than being added later as an afterthought. The
ICO also encourages a process of assessing whether the initiative is a
proportionate response to the matters it is intended to address; that is, to
consider whether there are there any less intrusive means available.

Notably, we published our Privacy Impact Assessment guidance (PIA) last
year. A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) is a process which enables
organisations to anticipate and address the likely privacy impacts of new
initiatives, identify problems, and negotiate solutions. A PIA usually
results in a PIA Report, which may be published or distributed to
participants and wider stakeholders. This allows for further transparency in
policy making and ensures that stakeholders are engaged in the process.
Following the recent high profile data losses, the Cabinet Office has now
stated that all government departments introduce PIAs at an early stage
within their policy making. This mandate was set out in the Cabinet Office
Report on ‘Data Handling Procedures in Government (June 2008):
([1]http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/~/media/...
csia/dhr/dhr080625%20pdf.ashx).

I hope that this response addresses the points you have raised. Thank you
for your enquiry.

Yours sincerely

Alison Wellens

Data Protection Practice team

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http://www.ico.gov.uk or email: [email address]
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Tel: 01625 545 700 Fax: 01625 524 510

References

1. http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/~/media/...