如果你在数字技术领域工作, 作为一名研究者, 软件开发人员, 或设计师, 你可能已经考虑过你所建立的对权利的影响, 自由, 以及公共利益. Navigating this complicated terrain requires a mixture of people with different skills and experience including legal, 政策, 以及技术专长. But as increasingly complex technologies and data flows are integrated into consequential decisions in society, there is a greater need for technologists to explain technology and highlight where engineering and design choices will create significant impacts on individuals.
在我当警察的时候 人工智能博士后研究员 在ICO, I had the opportunity to engage in this kind of public interest technology work on a day-to-day basis. 为ICO这样的监管机构工作, 谁的角色是维护信息权利, 包括资料保护, 为了公众利益, 让你处于一个独特的位置. I was amazed by the sheer variety and complexity of data protection and technology issues that emerge on the ground in particular contexts, 这挑战了我对数据保护和技术的许多先入为主的看法. Having to translate the jargon and demystify the hype around technologies like AI to my colleagues, 最终让我在理论和实践上都更好地理解了他们.
During my time working in the Technology department 在ICO, a typical day might have included:
- Reading a technical report on an AI system that is being developed by a data controller and is referenced in their data protection impact assessment. 然后, preparing a briefing for the DPIA team on the risks it raises and the adequacy of measures proposed to mitigate them.
This kind of work offered fascinating insights into how these technologies are being deployed in practice and an opportunity to influence how they are designed to achieve data protection compliance.
- Running a workshop with data protection officers and software engineers to explore ways to better implement data protection by design in the context of automated decision-making systems.
This frequently involved getting to grips with the differing mindsets and approaches of lawyers and technologists and trying to align them around feasible solutions. Consulting with a wide range of stakeholders in a variety of roles and sectors was enlightening and proved crucial when it later came to crafting guidance that communicated the important points while also being applicable to the wide variety of different contexts organisations find themselves in.
- Responding to questions about the data protection implications of particularly unusual and esoteric technologies.
This sometimes required me to revisit obscure concepts from computer science - the kind of strange things one learns about in theory but rarely gets to see implemented in practice, let alone have to consider their bearing on fundamental concepts in data protection like data controllers or personal data. 这些案例引发了我和同事之间的争论, 哪些不仅令人着迷, but also important because our conclusions would be directly relevant to our colleagues in casework and ultimately to the data subjects and controllers involved.
The main project I worked on was to develop a framework for how the ICO approaches auditing AI. This included working with the Assurance and Investigations teams to equip them for AI-related work through auditing tools and procedures to be used in audits and investigations as well as producing detailed 《澳门十大正规赌博娱乐平台》. 这是一项具有挑战性但回报很高的工作, which would not have been possible without the expertise and skill of many colleagues within the Technology team and beyond.
当然, 当Covid-19大流行爆发时, 我们的工作必须转向解决它为数据保护带来的新挑战. This required us to work quickly to get to grips with various proposals for technologies to address the pandemic which involved personal data; from contact tracing apps to AI tools for predicting the next hotspots. On the basis of this analysis we produced guidance and opinions (for example on contact tracing app development and 谷歌/苹果API), to help ensure that personal data was appropriately protected while playing its vital role in the pandemic response.
Throughout my time 在ICO I had the opportunity to work with a range of incredibly smart, 有责任心的, 有趣的人, 以及与广泛的外部利益相关者进行接触. 结果是, I came away with a deeper understanding of the important challenges facing data protection today and in future, 以及对监管数据保护工作的新认识.
The potential societal consequences of newly powerful digital technologies are too significant to leave to technology providers, 公司, 和政府, 即使是那些善意的人. Regulators like the ICO have the responsibility and democratic mandate to shape these technologies by ensuring appropriate safeguards are built into them from the beginning or even preventing their deployment where they fail to meet legal requirements. 为了有效地做到这一点, they need parity of arms in terms of technology expertise with those they regulate to ensure they can engage with them on an equal basis. This requires people with technology expertise to unpack the complex ways that personal data is processed and the consequences for affected individuals. 这项工作不仅重要，而且回报丰厚.
