Thread by @Asha_Titus

@cori_crider @nyunt_pye @AdaLovelaceInst @ImogenParker @Foxglovelegal Hi @cori_crider!100% of your NHS cases conceding pre-permission just shows they dont have the resources to engage in a long drawn out legal battle.

There are so many uses of machine learning& automated allocation in social commissioning models in local govts across the UK 1/12

@cori_crider @nyunt_pye @AdaLovelaceInst @ImogenParker @Foxglovelegal They use it to speak to NHS, allocate resources& predict need for services-built by private analytics consultancies

Esp in integrated planning systems bridging local authorities, NHS& other agencies with responsibilities for pub health, #ML is used to curate info for people 2/12

@cori_crider @nyunt_pye @AdaLovelaceInst @ImogenParker @Foxglovelegal Once these systems are in place I’m sure it is possible to take a risk model developed in social care to another department within the same public organisation for debt recovery 3/12

@cori_crider @nyunt_pye @AdaLovelaceInst @ImogenParker @Foxglovelegal We don’t even know which councils these are because they are now scared to talk to researchers who have the bandwidth to spend lots of time opening up these data driven systems.

Even @LGAcomms is struggling to keep up with some of these use cases 4/12

@cori_crider @nyunt_pye @AdaLovelaceInst @ImogenParker @Foxglovelegal @LGAcomms There are ethical issues around taking data from one context and marrying it to another; and the differential outcomes that creates for citizens and other data subjects

Creating awareness using controversies like last years ‘A levels’ fiasco has its place… 5/12

@cori_crider @nyunt_pye @AdaLovelaceInst @ImogenParker @Foxglovelegal @LGAcomms But this confrontational ‘take down the algorithm’ approach encouraged by civil society and even progressive media outlets like the @guardian, though well meaning, has only made them wary of putting any of this into the public domain 6/12

@cori_crider @nyunt_pye @AdaLovelaceInst @ImogenParker @Foxglovelegal @LGAcomms @guardian If we are serious about opening the black box, a more nuanced, technically informed discussion is needed which lets frontline local government/data professionals engage in the conversation and point out the biases in their data systems without reputational harm to them

7/12

@cori_crider @nyunt_pye @AdaLovelaceInst @ImogenParker @Foxglovelegal @LGAcomms @guardian I have heard @drturnerlee of the @BrookingsInst talk at the @turinginst about using voluntary standards like energy ratings to solve this problem (i.e this organisation or public agency’s data governance gets a B+ or A- etc)

8/12

@cori_crider @nyunt_pye @AdaLovelaceInst @ImogenParker @Foxglovelegal @LGAcomms @guardian @drturnerlee @BrookingsInst @turinginst This is one way to regulate these systems without alienating the data professionals working in inadequately funded public organisations who are ultimately the humans in the loop (with the capacity to make changes!)

9/12

@cori_crider @nyunt_pye @AdaLovelaceInst @ImogenParker @Foxglovelegal @LGAcomms @guardian @drturnerlee @BrookingsInst @turinginst From my research these are the basic #administrative datasets held by each local authority:
- Adults and Children’s social care on Liquid Logic
- Electoral Register on Xpress
- Revenues and Benefits on Capita
- Council tax on Capita
- Council Housing on Capita

10/12

@cori_crider @nyunt_pye @AdaLovelaceInst @ImogenParker @Foxglovelegal @LGAcomms @guardian @drturnerlee @BrookingsInst @turinginst And Annual School Census datasets.

Under the guise of good data sharing- especially during #COVID - there are very questionable algorithms, risk scoring and #ML models being run that combine fragments of these datasets. 11/12

@cori_crider @nyunt_pye @AdaLovelaceInst @ImogenParker @Foxglovelegal @LGAcomms @guardian @drturnerlee @BrookingsInst @turinginst It raises serious data privacy issues in terms of contextual integrity when fragments of these statutory datasets are merged and linked to run risk assessment algorithms and off the shelf classificatory tools. At this stage, these are what we need to be talking about…

12/12

@cori_crider @nyunt_pye @AdaLovelaceInst @ImogenParker @Foxglovelegal @LGAcomms @guardian @drturnerlee @BrookingsInst @turinginst Unroll please @threadreaderapp