Council Motion: Stopping Data Discrimination

The Government has announced reforms to UK GDPR and our Data Protection Regulations as part of the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill that is currently making its passage through Parliament. These reforms will scrap, or water down many of the data rights we have in place to try and prevent data discrimination occurring.

Data discrimination is the practice of collecting data on individuals and then using that data to make discriminatory decisions about them.

The Open Rights Group have launched a campaign to Stop the Data Discrimination Bill. You can download a full guide from Open Rights to the bill and impacts it will have on data protection here.

Campaigning against Data Discrimination on your Council

The Government’s attack on GPDR gives us an opportunity to campaign against data discrimination on your Council. Both by opposing the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill through Council Motions and also making sure your Council’s data practices are ethical and transparent.

The Open Rights Group have produced some resources to help you fight for this:

• Template Council Motion (can also be copied and pasted below)
• Briefing and Questions for Scrutiny

Template Council Motion (from the Open Rights Group)

Council Notes:

· That UK GDPR, and the Data Protection Act 2018 protects individuals from harmful or discriminatory uses of their data. It does so by imposing a duty on organizations to use people’s data in a legal, transparent, and fair way.

· That without GDPR students couldn’t stop unfair algorithms from grading their A-levels and workers couldn’t challenge robo-dismissals. Victims of sexual violence would be subject to digital strip searches by Police and job applicants would face racist automated recruitment tools.

· That the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport has proposed a new Data Protection and Digital Information Bill that seeks to water down the strong protections that UK GDPR provides.

· That a coalition of civil society groups lead by the Open Rights Group have expressed concern for the erosion of UK data rights.

Council Believes:

· Government plans to water down UK GDPR privacy laws will unleash data discrimination against workers, children, students and vulnerable groups like migrants, victims of violence and minorities.

· That upholding the data rights of residents within [Insert Local Authority Area] is an important legal and moral duty of the authority.

Council therefore calls for:

· The Chief Executive and Leader of the Council to write on behalf of the Council to Rt Hon Michelle Donelan MP Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport expressing concerns at plans to water down the data rights of UK citizens.

· The authority to give it’s support to the Open Rights Group’s campaign to ‘Stop Data Discrimination’.

· The Chief Executive to work to ensure the authority strives to abide by the highest standards of data protection, cybersecurity, and to protect the data rights of all local residents.