Comment by Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)

When decisions are made about you without people being involved, this is called ‘automated individual decision-making and profiling’ or ‘automated processing’, for short. You have the right: * not to be subject to a decision that is based solely on automated processing if the decision affects your legal rights or other equally important matters (eg automatic refusal of an online credit application, and e-recruiting practices without human intervention) * to understand the reasons behind decisions made about you by automated processing and the possible consequences of the decisions, and * to object to profiling in certain situations, including for direct marketing. Organisations must not make decisions based solely on automated processing if the decision affects your legal rights or other equally important matters unless the decision is: * necessary for the purposes of a contract between you and the organisation * authorised by law (eg to prevent fraud or tax evasion), or * based on your explicit consent. They should tell you why the decision is made in this way and how it will affect you. They should also explain that you have a right to request human intervention, express your view and challenge the decision.