Online platforms inquiry hears from data experts
19 October 2015
On Monday 19 October the House of Lords EU Internal Market Sub-Committee hears from experts on issues around data use and advertising.
- Parliament TV: watch the evidence session
- Inquiry: Online platforms and the EU Digital Single Market
- EU Internal Market Sub-Committee
Witnesses
The evidence session takes place on Monday 19 October in Committee Room 2, Palace of Westminster.
At 4.15pm:
- Steve Wood, Head of Policy Delivery, Information Commissioner's Office
- Steve Chester, Director of Data, Internet Advertising Bureau
- Des Higham, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Career Fellow in Data Analytics/Internet of Things
The Sub-Committee will look closely at issues such as how public data is amassed and utilised, whether regulation on data use is holding the platforms back, and also how much awareness the public has of the pitfalls of relinquishing personal information.
How key is data to the success of online platforms such as Amazon, Google and Facebook? Should they show more openness about how they use it? Do consumers need to be more aware of the risks of sharing data?
Likely questions
Questions which the witnesses are likely to face include:
- What do online platforms do with the data they collect? Is data gathering all geared towards attracting advertising revenue?
- Is public understanding of this process adequate?
- Should users take more control of data use?
- Do the SMEs and suppliers that use online platforms have access to their transactional data?
- Given the exponential growth of data on the internet, is regulatory oversight of how platforms collect and use data sufficient?
- Are regulations holding online platforms back?
- What algorithms are being used to turn large amounts of personal data into useful information for online platforms?
- Should platforms be more accountable for the inferences of their algorithms?
Further information
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