Digital life support processing

Municipality of Utrecht

To correctly determine eligibility of residents, we use the application of an algorithm as a source of information. For example, by pre-determining whether the required information fields are filled in the application.

Last change on 12th of July 2024, at 9:55 (CET) | Publication Standard 1.0

• Publication category: Impactful algorithms
• Impact assessment: DPIA, ...
• Status: In use

General information

Theme

Social Security

Begin date

-

Contact information

[e-mail]

Responsible use

Goal and impact

Awarding benefits to residents who are entitled to them

Considerations

Results Utrecht Uthic Assessment: with this approach, we encourage that we can correctly award benefits to residents who are entitled to them. This contributes to the value Justice, as we provide the right form of service for the more vulnerable residents. With every application, a staff member assesses the personal context and situation of the resident in question. With this, we fulfil the value Human Dignity, by not treating people as numbers, but having an eye and attention for their situation. When applying the algorithm, we ensure that there is no violation of privacy.

Human intervention

The algorithm (with a direct impact on Utrecht residents and their living environment) only serves as a source of information for an employee, who takes the appropriate next step based on this information and the context of the situation. This principle is included in our Utrecht framework Internal Guidelines for Algorithm Application.

Risk management

The Utrecht data scientists, Information and Process Advisors (IPA) and Decentralised Information Security Officers (DISO) within the Utrecht municipality have a controlling and monitoring role in the application of the algorithm, in addition to the employees directly involved. By doing so, we want to prevent the following risks from occurring:

- data leak by making personal data of Utrecht residents publicly available

- algorithm takes a decision completely independently, without the intervention of an employee and without interpreting the relevant context of the situation

- 'function creep' regarding data in the application of the algorithm, causing the algorithm to give a distorted picture of what is going on. This can occur because the same type of data is used when applying the algorithm, and the algorithm uses that as confirmation of what comes out as information

Impact assessment

• Utrechts Uthiek Assessment
• Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA)

Operations

Data

Required fields completed or not completed in the digital livelihood questionnaire