{"id":178355,"date":"1994-11-03T06:02:00","date_gmt":"1994-11-03T06:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/?p=178355"},"modified":"2022-11-15T06:03:45","modified_gmt":"2022-11-15T06:03:45","slug":"automated-decision-gdpr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/data-privacy-it\/automated-decision-gdpr\/","title":{"rendered":"Does the GDPR Allow My Business to Use Automated Decision Making in the UK?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation caused businesses in the UK to rethink how they handled personal information. However, due to media attention mainly focusing on the ability of the Information Commissioner’s Office<\/a> (ICO) to fine organisations up to \u00a317.5m, some businesses remain unaware of the more technical parts of the UK GDPR. One such example includes the restrictions on solely automated decision-making by companies in the UK. This article will explore what constitutes automated decision-making and the restrictions placed upon doing so by the GDPR<\/a> to ensure your business does not risk a hefty financial penalty from the ICO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Automated Decision-Making?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The ICO<\/a> defines this as constituting a decision-making process that is \u2018totally automated\u2019 and absent \u2018human influence on the outcome\u2019. This relates to processes involving handling an individual’s personal data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there are more straightforward definitions to unwrap, so let us explore both phrases in more detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Totally automated\u2019 means a process within which the information is processed by a system or piece of electronic software. Therefore, it does not matter whether the information is imputed <\/em>into the system by a human (typing the data into the system) or through software (via a website form).\u00a0Instead, it matters whether a human or automated system considers<\/em> the information to create an outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Similarly, the \u2018human influence on the outcome\u2019 wording demonstrates that the definition relies on whether a human is involved in the end decision.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Example<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So, let us consider the two different systems below. The first system will meet the definition of automated decision-making, whilst the second will not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

System 1<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Your company\u2019s website invites individuals to fill out an online application form for a vacancy. You have set the form to automatically filter out individuals who have placed a high figure in the \u2018preferred salary\u2019 section. Those individuals have their applications deleted before sight by HR (and HR never learns of any deleted applicants).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

System 2<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Your organisation\u2019s website has the same online application form for a job vacancy. However, the form does not delete itself if some answers are not preferable. Instead, it marks the application in red when it reaches HR. The red marking shows that some answers were not ideal, but HR has the final decision on whether to invite the applicant to interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the first scenario, the electronic system automatically dictates the outcome without any oversight or double-checking by HR. However, in the second example, there is a human influence on the outcome because an individual in HR can overrule the system (for example, by concluding that the increased salary expectations are sensible given the high experience of the job candidate).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n Continue reading this article below the form\n <\/i>\n<\/a>\n

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