Call for more transparency on how such tools are used in public services as 20 councils stop using computer algorithms. The Home Office recently stopped using an algorithm to help decide visa applications after allegations that it contained “entrenched racism”.

Can transparency bring accountability to public-sector algorithmic decision-making (ADM) systems? High-profile retractions have taken place against a shift in public sentiment towards greater scepticism and mistrust of ‘black box’ technologies, evidenced in increasing awareness of the possible risks for citizens of the potentially invasive profiling.