On June 5, 2025, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) launched its new AI and biometrics strategy. The strategy aims to increase its scrutiny of AI and biometric technologies focusing on three priority situations, namely where: stakes are high; there is clear public concern for the technology; and regulatory clarity can provide immediate impact.
The ICO identified three areas of focus in its strategy:
- Transparency and explainability, i.e., when and how the technologies affect people;
- Bias and discrimination, particularly where the technologies have been trained on “flawed, incomplete or unrepresentative information”; and
- Rights and redress, i.e., making sure that systems are accurate, appropriate safeguards are in place to protect people’s rights, and that there are ways to challenge and correct outcomes that result in harm.