It is entirely my fault; when I sit down and stand up again, I lose my place.
We would always take the views of the DPRRC very seriously on that. Clearly, the Bill is being designed without the idea in mind of losing or diminishing any of those safeguards; otherwise, it would have simply said in the Bill that we could do that. I understand the concern that, by varying them, there is a risk that they would be diminished. We will continue to find a way to take into account the concerns that the noble Baroness has set out, along with the DPRRC. In the interim, let me perhaps provide some reassurance that that is, of course, not the intention.
1.45 pm
Amendment 59 relates to workplace rights. I reiterate that the existing data protection legislation and our proposed reforms provide sufficient safeguards for automated decision-making where personal data is being processed, including in workplaces. Workers are already protected by a wide range of regulatory frameworks related to AI, which include employment law, as well as data protection law, human rights law, equality law and potentially also legal frameworks relating to health and safety. Where AI might engage with workers’ rights in the workplace, the UK has a strong system of legislation and enforcement of these protections using enforcement through specialist employment tribunals. In addition, the existing transparency provisions in the wider data protection framework continue to apply. These require organisations to inform individuals
about the existence of solely automated decision-making, including profiling, as well as to provide meaningful information about the logic involved and the significance and envisaged consequence of such automated processing for the individual. As such, we do not believe these amendments are necessary, and I ask the noble Baroness and the noble Lord not to press them.
The Government take the view that these reforms clarify and simplify the rules related to solely automated decision-making without watering down any of the protections for data subjects or the fundamental data protection principles. In doing so, they will provide confidence to organisations looking to use these technologies in a responsible way, while driving economic growth and innovation. The Government want to provide the necessary future-proofing measures in an evolving technology landscape. This is why the Bill has been carefully designed to provide a future-proofed and flexible data protection regime for the UK. I therefore ask noble Lords not to oppose the question that Clause 14 stand part of the Bill.