The government could be breaching its own data protection laws by outsourcing the digitisation of public services to private firms, a new report has warned.

Digitisation in the Public Sector, a study by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) seen exclusively by openDemocracy, warns that as well as the erosion of public services, the creeping privatisation could lead to breaches of GDPR laws.

Under GDPR, people have the right to be told what personal data of theirs is being shared. But a lack of transparency over contracts awarded to private firms raises concerns that these laws aren’t being upheld.

“In relation to automated management systems, many workplace representatives report that they do not know which digital technologies are being deployed in their workplaces,” the report states. “This is not only problematic, it is also a breach of the employer’s obligations under the UK GDPR articles 13 and 14 called the Right to be Informed.”

One worker interviewed for the report was denied access to information about private sector “developers and vendors” involved in a system they were using. Their Freedom of Information request was rejected on the grounds of commercial sensitivity, despite a right to have information about who accesses their data.

The report states outsourced contracts “must be made transparent to members of the public and workers alike”.

In 2021, the government promised to improve the public sector’s digital services, committing to making this “front and centre of government’s priorities”. The report details how spending on public sector procurement – of which a significant sum is on this digitisation – is on the rise. In 2021/22, £379bn was spent across the UK, an increase of £24bn.

This has led to so-called digital upgrades in Universal Credit or NHS data collection, often through lucrative contracts with private companies such as controversial firm Palantir. In December, the Home Office’s Data Services and Analytics unit also signed an initial four-year, £40m contract with PA Consulting to “support data and analytics”.

This privatisation of the public sector will also lead to “devastating disregard” for public services in the UK, the author has told openDemocracy.

Christina J. Colclough, founder of consultancy Why Not Lab, said: “The long term trajectory of this [privatisation] is a total loss of competence inside the public sector and therefore, goodbye universal welfare.”

Colclough says this privatisation could have an impact on human rights, workers' rights, could change the labour market, pose a risk to democracy and limit “access to the information that's needed to govern in the public interest.”

In March, openDemocracy revealed Palantir, a secretive Silicon Valley firm first funded by the CIA, will collect patient information from all hospitals in England. The company, whose owner has donated hefty sums to the Trump campaign, is also the frontrunner to receive a £480m NHS data contract.