Data analytics usage

The request was successful.

Data Justice Lab

Dear Waltham Forest Borough Council,

We are submitting the following Freedom of Information Request for documents relating to uses of data analytics, predictive analytics, or algorithmic automated systems used for risk assessment, scoring systems or automated decision making within the jurisdiction of your authority. This could include the use of these data systems in order to draw insights from large and integrated datasets, or to influence decisions about resources, funding or service delivery. This could include, but may not be limited to, uses of predictive analytics in child welfare, health care, adult social care, fraud detection, or policing.

Specifically, we are requesting:

· Any briefing notes, reports, evaluations, or summaries concerning uses of algorithmically driven data systems. Ideally this would include information about software, hardware, operations and types of data

· Any overviews about how system outputs are produced.

· Any training manuals or materials (e.g. slides, etc.) for staff about data collection, analysis, assessment and reporting as related to the use of the systems.

. Any impact assessments

· Any data visualisation outputs connected to the systems.

· Any promotional material, presentation material, or staff educational material related to the systems.

. Any contracts relating to the systems. We argue that the release of contracts does not compromise commercial sensitivity. The full argument is provided below.*

Also, please note we are not requesting datasets or any data about individuals.

Please let us know if any information requires clarifying.

We would like to receive electronic copies of this information.

All the very best,

Data Justice Lab

Please note that we are following the Information Commissioner’s guidance on the Freedom of Information Act which specifies that requests can be made by organisations and there is no need for a named individual (pages 9-10, sections 38-39).
Source: https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...

*Addressing the commercial sensitivity question:
a) Section 20 of the Department for Communities and Local Government’s ‘Local Government Transparency Code 2015’, which encourages greater transparency in the public interest, notes:

‘The Government has not seen any evidence that publishing details about contracts entered into by local authorities would prejudice procurement exercises or the interests of commercial organisations, or breach commercial confidentiality unless specific confidentiality clauses are included in contracts. Local authorities should expect to publish details of contracts newly entered into – commercial confidentiality should not, in itself, be a reason for local authorities to not follow the provisions of this Code’.

Source: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk... (page 9, section 20)

b) There is always the potential for a company in any area to act in bad faith, but this should not be a reason to deny access to information about how public money is spent.

c) Contract and tendering details are provided regularly by a range of government bodies in the public interest. For example, many police and fire services release contractual information through the Bluelight database ( https://www.blpd.gov.uk/foi/foi.aspx ).

d) There may be core aspects of the systems contracted that have competitive commercial value and we appreciate that such details will be redacted from any documents released. We argue that commercial interests will not be compromised by revealing other details that may be provided in contracts or related communications with contracted companies. Details that could be released include details about the existence of a system, it's purpose, the tasks being contracted, continued relationships, general descriptions, types of data being used, how this data is shared.

Information Officer | Waltham Forest Council, Waltham Forest Borough Council

Re: "Freedom of Information request - Data analytics usage"
Reference: FOI82241226
Date of request: 2018-07-20 14:52:42

Dear Data Justice Lab,

Thank you for your recent request for information. Your request has been
received and we are dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act (2000), and in line with the Council's policy and
protocols.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, we
will let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you, and you will be
required to pay before we will proceed to deal with your request.

If you have any queries about this message, please contact us via email
at: [1][email address] or by post at:

The London Borough of Waltham Forest
Town Hall
Forest Road
London
E17 4JF

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

Best regards,

The Information Officer
The London Borough of Waltham Forest
Town Hall
Forest Road
London
E17 4JF
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The information contained in this e-mail is
intended only for the addressee(s). It may contain privileged and
confidential information and, if you are not the intended recipient, you
must not read, copy or distribute it, nor take any action in reliance upon
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recommend that you carry out your own anti-virus checks before opening any
attachments. Information contained in this e-mail may be subject to public
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004.

References

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1. mailto:[email address]?subject=FOI%20Query

Information Officer | Waltham Forest Council, Waltham Forest Borough Council

Re: FOI Response FOI82241226 "Freedom of Information request - Data
analytics usage".

Dear Data Justice Lab,

I am writing to confirm that the Council has now completed its search for
the information which you requested on 20th July 2018 about Freedom of
Information request - Data analytics usage.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your
own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for
the purposes of news reporting. Any other reuse, for example commercial
publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder.

Waltham Forest Council does not currently have any algorithmically-driven
data systems in operational use for risk assessment, scoring, profiling or
automated decision-making. A 'proof of concept' project is currently
underway to assess the feasibility and benefits of using the Amazon Web
Services (AWS) cloud platform to manage some of the Council's data.

 

One part of this 'proof of concept' project includes applying algorithmic
analysis of long-text data related to referrals made to the Council's
children's services and adult social care services. This purpose is to
assess whether algorithmic analysis of this type data of can be used to
assess the level of risk associated with the individual being referred.
This project is not yet complete and no results are available to share in
response to this Freedom of Information Request. Responses are given to
the specific questions in your request below

 

With the exception of this 'proof of concept' project, the Council does
not hold any information that is relevant to this Freedom of Information
request.

  

Any briefing notes, reports, evaluations, or summaries concerning uses of
algorithmically driven data systems. Ideally this would include
information about software, hardware, operations and types of data

A briefing on the 'proof of concept' project is attached as part of the
response to this Freedom of Information request.

 

Any overviews about how system outputs are produced.

The briefing attached includes a diagram of the high-level technical
architecture for the project. The specific services being used in the
project include AWS DMS, AWS S3, AWS Comprehend, AWS Sagemaker, AWS Athena
and Looker.

 

Any training manuals or materials (e.g. slides, etc.) for staff about data
collection, analysis, assessment and reporting as related to the use of
the systems. 

No training manuals or materials have currently been produced.

 

Any impact assessments

No impact assessment has been undertaken. The findings of the 'proof of
concept' project will inform future impact assessments, if it is
recommended that the approach be developed further..

 

Any data visualisation outputs connected to the systems. 

No data visualisation outputs from the project are currently available to
share.

 

Any promotional material, presentation material, or staff educational
material related to the systems.

The Council does not hold any promotional or presentation material.

 

Any contracts relating to the systems.

The Council does not have any contracts for the systems being used in the
proof of concept project.

[1]Briefing - Cloud BI PoC Project

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to request a review of our decision, you should contact
us via e-mail at:[2][email address] or by post:

The London Borough of Waltham Forest
The Information Officer
Town Hall
Forest Road
London
E17 4JA

Please remember to quote the reference number FOI82241226 in any future
communications.

If you are not content with the outcome your review, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for a decision.
Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the
complaints procedure provided by the Council.

Kind regards,
The Information Officer

Best regards,

The Information Officer
The London Borough of Waltham Forest
Town Hall
Forest Road
London
E17 4JF
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The information contained in this e-mail is
intended only for the addressee(s). It may contain privileged and
confidential information and, if you are not the intended recipient, you
must not read, copy or distribute it, nor take any action in reliance upon
it. If you have received this e-mail in error, please inform the sender as
soon as possible and delete the e-mail from your computer. E-mail may be
corrupted or altered during or after transmission. We accept no
responsibility for changes made to this e-mail after it was sent. Whilst
we take reasonable steps to identify software viruses, any attachments to
this email may contain viruses which our anti-virus software has failed to
identify. No liability is accepted for such viruses, and we therefore
recommend that you carry out your own anti-virus checks before opening any
attachments. Information contained in this e-mail may be subject to public
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004.

References

Visible links
1. https://apps-waltham-forest.s3.amazonaws... - Cloud BI PoC Project.pdf
2. mailto:[email address]