The warning comes in the wake of a surge in data breaches caused by Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, with incidents including the leaking of personal information pertaining to witnesses, suspects, and victims in several crimes. The ICO has advised public bodies to stop using spreadsheets when responding to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FoI).
Personal information is exempt from release and should be redacted before the request is actioned. However, there have been numerous cases where employees have not received enough training to fully redact spreadsheets before release. Breaches such as these show that data is not just at risk from hackers but also from general incompetence and highlight the importance of cyber literacy within organizations.
The ICO has issued several recommendations to organizations, including immediately stopping uploading original source spreadsheets to online platforms used to respond to FOI requests, continually providing training to staff who are involved with disclosing information, and avoiding using spreadsheets with hundreds or thousands of rows and instead investing in data management systems which support data integrity.
The recent personal data breaches are a reminder that data protection is, first and foremost, about people. Robust measures must be in place to protect personal information. The advice we have issued sets out the bare minimum that public authorities should be doing to protect personal data when responding to information access requests, and to reassure the people they serve, and their staff, that their information is in safe hands.
However, the Information Commissioner's Office warns that if "neurotech" is not created and applied correctly, there is a serious risk of discrimination.
Growing popularity of "neurotech" in the private sectors in UK has incited the ICO into issuing stern warnings of threat of data bias in collecting neurological data.
It is believed that use of technology to monitor neurodata will be seen on a large scale within the next decade. The initial steps of this ‘technological advancement’ could be seen in the recent times, where Elon Musk is introducing Neuralink that would help computers to connect to human brains.
Current Trends in Neurotechnology
The ICO published a report recently, highlighting concerns that, in the absence of adequate regulation, the surge in interest in neurotechnology and the collection of neurodata may be abused.
Apparently, there has been a rise of interest in the UK private sector, with around 34 companies focusing on the industry, according to the watchdog.
Currently, the medical industry, which is subject to tight restrictions, is the principal area for applying neurotechnology. With the use of more sophisticated invasive and non-invasive equipment, such as brain implants and wristband-based neural interfaces, scientists have been attempting to help patients overcome neurological problems.
The technology may predict, diagnose, and treat complicated physical and mental health problems, altering a patient’s response to illnesses like dementia and Parkinson’s disease. Recently, in May, a 40-year-old patient named Gert-Jan Oskam who was paralysed in a cycling accident was able to walk again, all thanks to electronic implants in his brain.
Companies in the private sector are also beginning to use the technology. The ability to "read and write" long-term memories directly from the brain is being developed by startups like Kernel, and Elon Musk's brain implant company Neuralink recently received regulatory approval to begin its first human clinical trials, which raised a few eyebrows due to claims of animal cruelty against the company during earlier research phases.
Not only the medical sector, sectors like recruitment have also begin to consider using neurodata in their field. This has further raised concerns of ICO, since there resides a possibility that the subjects of their monitored data may not have control over it, discriminating against the sector’s professional setting.
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