Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage large providers of artificial intelligence technology to ensure greater privacy rights for customers.

The Data Protection Act 2018 set new standards for protecting personal data, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation. It imposed strict obligations on organisations to ensure that personal data is processed safely and securely. Organisations which fail to comply with the new legislation may be investigated by the Information Commissioner’s Office and subject to substantial fines.

All organisations that process personal information must comply with data protection principles. One of these principles states that organisations shall be fair, lawful and transparent in the collection and use of personal data. That means all relevant organisations, including providers of artificial intelligence technology, must clearly explain and justify what they will be doing with personal information that they collect.

The Government has also recently set up the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation to identify and address any gaps in the data and AI governance landscape, as and when they emerge. The Centre will provide independent expert advice to Government on the measures needed to enable and ensure safe, ethical and innovative use of data and technology.