The inquiry and the Committee’s work

the end of which it would become costly for the customer to opt out. She was clear that: “no free offer is ever truly free”.22

10. Concerns must be addressed, because the rapid deployment of new technologies for the application of the law also entails clear benefits. A large number of contributors to our inquiry acknowledged the potential of these tools to increase efficiency and provide insight, assisting officers in the course of their duties. Avon and Somerset Constabulary thought their use of data analytics placed “better insights into the hands of those delivering the business to help empower and support more effective decision making.”23

The Rt Hon Kit Malthouse MP, the Minister for Crime and Policing at the Home Office and Ministry of Justice, told us that he was “very excited about the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in policing.”24

We also acknowledge that, as many submissions pointed out, advanced tools can provide substantial assistance towards enacting the crucial duties of the police to protect and prevent harm. Our witnesses noted “enormous potential benefits such as increasing the capability of the police in ways that would not be possible without automation and new technologies”.25

11. The potential of new technologies to provide new insight and enhance efficiency could increase the capabilities of departments, police forces, and public bodies more generally. If used appropriately, we were told that they do in fact have the potential to increase trust in the rule of law, as the use of analytical tools “bring a scientific basis to its application”.26 As the

Information Commissioner’s Office (the regulatory body for information rights) told us, “every technology can create benefits or risks depending on the context, governance and oversight measures, as well as its purpose.”27

12. With this report, we set out to identify the necessary safeguards that will ensure we maximise the potential of new technologies while minimising associated risks.

The inquiry and the Committee’s work 13. In May 2021, we decided to undertake an inquiry into the use of new technologies in the application of the law. On 22 July 2021, we launched a call for written evidence, which was shared with over 300 potentially interested parties. This can be found in Appendix 3. Over the course of several months, we reviewed 55 written submissions and spoke to 20 witnesses. We are grateful to our witnesses and contributors for their time and valuable input.

A list of evidence, both written and oral, can be found in Appendix 2.

14. Our Specialist Adviser, Dr Marion Oswald, Associate Professor, northumbria Law School, University of northumbria, has been of immense assistance and we are extremely grateful to her for her expertise and advice. We are grateful also to members of the West Midlands Ethics Committee and to Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Tom Mcneil who facilitated our attendance at one of its meetings, and provided a private briefing on its work. Matthew Gill, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government, facilitated a seminar for us to consider the institutional and regulatory frameworks which

22 Q 45 (Professor Elizabeth Joh) 23 Written evidence from Avon and Somerset Police (nTL0052) 24 Q 99 (Kit Malthouse MP) 25 Q 39 (Professor Elizabeth Joh) 26 Written evidence from SAS UK&I (nTL0041) 27 Written evidence from the Information Commissioner’s Office (nTL0016)