On 30 July, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO“) published new guidance on artificial intelligence (“AI“) and data protection. The ICO is also running a series of webinars to help organisations and businesses to comply with their obligations under data protection law when using AI systems to process personal data. This legal update summarises the main points from the guidance and the AI Accountability and Governance webinar hosted by the ICO on 22 September 2020.
As AI increasingly becomes a part of our everyday lives, businesses worldwide have to navigate the expanding landscape of legal and regulatory obligations associated with the use of AI systems. The ICO guidance recognises that using AI can have undisputable benefits, but that it can also pose risks to the rights and freedoms of individuals. The guidance offers a framework for how businesses can assess and mitigate these risks from a data protection perspective. It also stresses the value of considering data protection at an early stage of AI development, emphasising that mitigation of AI-associated risks should come at the design stage of the AI system.