Data (Use and Access) Bill [HL]

Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate Excerpts

Committee stage
Wednesday 18th December 2024 Grand Committee

[Lord Russell of Liverpool (CB)]

I shall speak very briefly, because the previous three speakers have covered the ground extremely well and made some extremely powerful arguments.

The noble Baroness, Lady Kidron, put her finger on it. The default position of departments such as the DfE, if they recognise there is a problem, is to issue guidance. Schools are drowning in guidance. If you talk to any headmaster or headmistress or the staff in charge of technology and trying to keep on top of it, they are drowning in guidance. They are basically flying blind when being asked to take some quite major decisions, whether it is about purchasing or the safeguards around usage or about measuring the effectiveness of some of the educational technology skills that are being acquired.

There is a significant difference between guidance and a clear and concrete code. We were talking the other day, on another group, about the need to have guardrails, boundaries and clarity. We need clarity for schools and for the educational technology companies themselves to know precisely what they can and cannot do. We come back again to the issue of the necessity of measuring outcomes, not just processes and inputs, because they are constantly changing. It is very important for the companies themselves to have clear guardrails.

The research to which the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron, referred, which is being done by a variety of organisations, found problems in the areas that we are talking about in this country, the United States, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany and France—and that is just scratching the surface. Things are moving very quickly and AI is accelerating that even more. With a code you are drawing a line in the sand and declaring very clearly what you expect and do not expect, what is permissible and not permissible. Guidance is simply not sufficient.

[Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Con)]

My Lords, I make a brief intervention. I am not against these amendments —they are very useful in the context of the Bill. However, I am reflecting on the fact that, when we drafted GDPR, we took a six-year process and failed in the course of doing so to really accommodate AI, which keeps popping up every so often in this Bill. Every part of every amendment seems to have a new subsection referring to automative decisions or to AI generally.

Obviously, we are moving on to have legislation in due course on AI and I am sure that a number of pieces of legislation, including no doubt this one, will be able to be used as part of our overall package when we deal with the regulation of AI. However, although it is true that the UK GDPR gives, in theory, a higher standard of protection for children, it is important to consider that, in the context of AI, the protections that we need to have are going to have to be much greater—we know that. But if there is going to be a code of practice for children and educational areas, we need also to consider vulnerable and disabled people and other categories of people who are equally entitled to have, and particularly with regard to the AI elements need to have, some help. That is going to be very difficult. Most adults whom I know know less about AI than do children approaching the age of 18, who are much more knowledgeable. They are also more knowledgeable of the restrictions that will have to be put in place than are adults, who appear to be completely at sea and not even understanding what AI is about.

I make a precautionary point. We should be very careful, while we have AI dotted all the way through this, that when we specify a particular element—in this case, for children—we must be aware of the need to have protection in place for other groups, particularly in the context of this Bill and, indeed, future legislation.

[Lord Lucas (Con)]

My Lords, I very much support the thrust of these amendments and what the noble Lord, Lord Knight, said in support of and in addition to them. I declare an interest as a current user of the national pupil database.

The proper codification of safeguards would be a huge help. As the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron, said, it would give us a foundation on which to build. I hope that, if they are going to go in this direction, the Government will take an immediate opportunity to do so because what we have here, albeit much more disorganised, is a data resource equivalent to what we have for the National Health Service. If we used all the data on children that these systems generate, we would find it much easier to know what works and in what circumstances, as well as how to keep improving our education system.

The fact that this data is tucked away in little silos—it is not shared and is not something that can be used on a national basis—is a great pity. If we have a national code as to how this data is handled, we enable something like the use of educational data in the way that the NHS proposes to use health data. Safeguards are needed on that level but the Government have a huge opportunity; I very much hope that it is one they will take.

--- Later in debate ---

I believe the noble Lord, Lord Holmes, and the CyberUp campaign have made an overwhelming case for amending the Computer Misuse Act 1990. By agreeing to these, the Government could provide much-needed clarity and legal protection for cybersecurity professionals, enabling them to contribute effectively to the UK’s security and economic prosperity.

[Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Con)]

My Lords, following on from what I said on earlier amendments, this is worse than what the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, has just expressed. Indeed, I fully support the amendments of my noble friend Lord Holmes. However, this just demonstrates, yet again, that unless we pull ourselves together, with better smart legislation that moves faster, we will never ever catch up with developments in technology and AI. This has been demonstrated dramatically by these amendments. I express concerns that the Government move at a pace that government always moves at, but in this particular field it is not going to work. We are going to be disadvantaged and in serious trouble, unless we can move a bit faster.

[Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom (Con)]

My Lords, I rise briefly but strongly to support my noble friend Lord Holmes. The CyberUp campaign has been banging this drum for a long time now. I remember taking part in the debates in another place on the Computer Misuse Act 34 years ago. It was the time of dial-up modems, fax machines and bulletin boards. This is the time to act, and it is the opportunity to do so.