What are rights relating to automated decision making?
Automated individual decision-making is a decision made by automated means without any human involvement.
Examples include:
- An online decision to award a loan; and
- A recruitment aptitude test which uses pre-programmed algorithums and criteria.
You have the right to object to profiling in certain circumstances.
The new data protection law will restrict organisations from making solely automated decisions, including those based on profiling, that have a legal or similarly significant effect on individuals.
The restriction only covers solely automated individual decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects. While these effects are not defined in the law, the decision must have a serious negative impact on an individual to be caught by this provision.
When do rights relating to automated decision making apply?
We will only carry out solely automated decision-making with legal or similarly significant effects if the decision is:
- Necessary for entering into or performance of a contract between an organisation and the individual;
- Authorised by law (for example, for the purposes of fraud or tax evasion); or
- Based on the individual’s explicit consent; or
- Necessary for reasons of substantial public interest.