Was 2020 a watershed for public sector use of algorithms? Last year saw public protests about the use of predictive analytics in decision making. As the technology becomes more widely used in many public services, Sam Trendall asks experts about the implications for government, the law – and the citizens affected A protest about the use o algorithms in exam results. Photo: PA If government did not know it has an algorithm problem, it certainly does now. “There is a clear, and understandable, nervousness about the use and consequences of algorithms, exacerbated by the events of this summer,” said the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation in a major report published in late November.