Section 50A: Automated processing and significant decisions

Data Protection Act 2018 · 2018 c. 12View on legislation.gov.uk

Part 3: Law enforcement processing — CHAPTER 3: Rights of the data subject

For the purposes of sections 50B and 50C—

a decision is based solely on automated processing if there is no meaningful human involvement in the taking of the decision, and
a decision is a significant decision, in relation to a data subject, if—
it produces an adverse legal effect for the data subject, or
it has a similarly significant adverse effect for the data subject.

When considering whether there is meaningful human involvement in the taking of a decision, a person must consider, among other things, the extent to which the decision is reached by means of profiling.

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Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.