Source · Select Committees · Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Accepted
Paragraph: 64
Commission research on automated workplace monitoring and clarify HSE's role in AI regulation.
Recommendation
The monitoring of employees in smart workplaces should be done only in consultation with, and with the consent of, those being monitored. The Government should commission research to improve the evidence base regarding the deployment of automated and data collection systems at work. It should also clarify whether proposals for the regulation of AI will extend to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and detail in its response to this report how HSE can be supported in fulfilling this remit.
Government Response Summary
The government partially accepts the recommendation, stating that workplace monitoring must comply with existing data protection law. It highlights safeguards in the Data Protection and Digital Information (No.2) Bill for automated decision-making and refers to its previously published AI Regulation White Paper and ongoing work with regulators like HSE, with a consultation response to be published later this year.
Paragraph Reference:
64
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
We partially accept this recommendation. Connected tech: smart or sinister?: Government and Information Commissioner’s Office Response 7 The Government is committed to supporting businesses to grow, while at the same time ensuring the protection and enhancement of workers’ rights. Transparency requirements are an important part of the data protection framework, whenever processing personal data. Any workplace monitoring must be consistent with the provisions contained in data protection law. In practice, this means that for any type of personal data processing, employers must satisfy one of the lawful grounds in Article 6 of the UK GDPR which includes, but is not limited to, consent. Moreover, if the processing involves any special categories of data, then a separate condition under Article 9(2) must also be met. Special categories of data include (but are not limited to) personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, and data concerning health, among others. The Government doesn’t have any plans currently to commission research regarding the deployment of automated and data collection systems at work. The Data Protection and Digital Information Bill seeks to clarify the safeguards that data controllers (including employers) must put in place when carrying out solely automated decision-making (‘ADM’) (as set out in Article 22 UK GDPR) and the rights that data subjects (including employees) have when these types of workplace technologies are deployed. The reforms ensure that these kinds of ADM activities are carried out in a fair and transparent manner, providing individuals with key safeguards. These are: the right to be provided with information about such decisions, to express their point of view about decisions, to contest them, and to seek human intervention to review and correct them. In March, we published the AI Regulation White Paper which set out our first steps towards establishing a regulatory framework for AI. We proposed five principles to govern AI, and committed to establishing mechanisms to monitor AI risk, and coordinate, evaluate and adapt the regulatory framework as this technology evolves. We have been working closely with regulators, including HSE, on how to apply these principles in practice. We received consultation responses from over 400 individuals and organisations across regulators, industry, academia, and civil society, and will be publishing our response to the consultation later this year.