Dr Marion Oswald

Marion's research focuses on the interaction between law and digital technology, and involves multi-disciplinary collaboration and doctrinal, empirical and conceptual methodologies.  Building on her background as a practising lawyer within Government and technology companies, she has developed a particular specialism in the use of digital technologies and big data within policing and the wider public sector.  She regularly writes, speaks and advises on the impacts of new technologies, and the legal, ethical and social issues raised by personal data sharing and the deployment of innovative technology in the public and private sectors, focusing upon administrative and public law and human rights issues.  She has a particular interest in the use of information, Big Data and algorithms to solve public sector problems, and in the challenges to children’s best interests raised by our digital society.

Marion was awarded an MBE in The Queen’s Jubilee Birthday Honours list 2022 for services to digital innovation.

From July 2021 - March 2022, Marion was Specialist Adviser to the Justice and Home Affairs Committee advising the Lords Committee on its inquiry into technologies and the application of the law: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/1272/new-technologies-and-the-application-of-the-law/

From September 2021, Marion has been appointed to the independent Advisory Board of the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, a government expert body focused upon the trustworthy use of data and AI.

From November 2021, Marion will be working part-time for the Turing Institute as Senior Research Associate supporting the Safe and Ethical AI Programme, focused in particular on criminal justice.

Marion is an Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute, Chair of the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner and West Midlands Police Data Ethics Committee, a member of the National Statistician's Data Ethics Committee, a member of the New Zealand Police independent advisory panel on emerging technologies, and a Board member of the UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Hub.  She was a member of the Advisory Board to the Ada Lovelace Institute Ryder Review of the Governance of Biometric Technologies.  She was joint law track chair of the Association of Computing Machinery Fairness, Accountability and Transparency (ACM FAT) Conference 2020 and a member of the Council of Europe Working Group of Experts on Artificial Intelligence and Criminal Law.

Marion is PI and Director of the AHRC-funded 'Observatory for the Monitoring of Data-Driven Approaches to Covid-19' (https://www.omddac.org.uk/).

Marion is Managing Editor of the Journal of Law, Technology and Trust, sits on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Cross-Disciplinary Research in Computational Law, and has guest edited the European Journal of Law and Technology.  She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• AI Regulation Policy Paper (CP 728): Response to call for views and evidence, Oswald, M. 23 Sep 2022
• A three-pillar approach to achieving trustworthy and accountable use of AI and emerging technology in policing in England and Wales: Lessons from the West Midlands data ethics model, Oswald, M. 30 Apr 2022, In: European Journal of Law and Technology
• ‘Give Me A Ping, Vasili. One Ping Only’ Why The Success Of Machine Learning Depends On Empowered People, Oswald, M. 2 Mar 2022
• Implications of Emerging Privacy Enhancing Technologies for UK Surveillance Policy, Balston, G., Oswald, M., Harris, A., Janjeva, A. Jul 2022
• Lord Geidt and the Wild West of policing technology governance: How can a resignation improve police technology oversight?, Oswald, M. 25 Jun 2022
• The UK Algorithmic Transparency Standard: A Qualitative Analysis of Police Perspectives, Oswald, M., Chambers, L., Goodman, E., Ugwudike, P., Zilka, M. 7 Jul 2022
• Are lie detector tests for terrorists really a good idea?, Kotsoglou, K., Oswald, M. 24 Feb 2021
• ‘Data: a new direction’: Response to consultation: Written submission from Dr Marion Oswald, Oswald, M. 9 Nov 2021
• Data-Driven Responses to COVID-19: Lessons Learned: OMDDAC Research Compendium, Allsopp, R., Bessant, C., Dawda, S., Ditcham, K., Emmett, C., Higgs, M., Janjeva, A., Li, G., Sutton, S., Warner, M., Oswald, M. 12 Oct 2021

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• COVID-19: Observatory for Monitoring Data-Driven Approaches to COVID-19, Oswald, M. (Principal Investigator), UK Research and Innovation, 04/11/20 - 03/11/21, £406,656.00

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• Organising a conference, workshop, ...: Progressing the UK Government’s Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard: Police Perspectives 2023
• Oral presentation: Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Information Law and Policy Centre Annual Conference 2022 2022
• Invited talk: Oversight of Police-Use of Surveillance Technology: Workshop hosted by the VUB Chair in Surveillance Studies 2022
• Invited talk: Using Artificial Intelligence in National Security 2022
• Invited talk: Keynote address at 'Responsible AI in Law Enforcement' organised by Oxford University and UNICRI 2022
• Invited talk: ‘Technology Rules?’ The recent Lords Justice and Home Affairs committee report into new technologies in the justice system, recommendations around governance and ethics, and ethics models in policing 2022
• Oral presentation: ‘Language and labels matter’: The implications of the Court of Appeal judgment in Miller for policing data analytics and AI 2022
• Oral presentation: ‘Language and labels matter’: The implications of the Court of Appeal judgment in Miller for policing AI and the use of non-crime hate incidents and other forms of intelligence as data inputs 2022
• Membership of committee: AHRC Peer Review College (External organisation) 2022
• Invited talk: techUK Digital Ethics Summit 2021 2021

• Daria Onitiu Deconstructing the right to privacy considering the impact of fashion recommender systems on an individual's autonomy and identity Start Date: 01/10/2019 End Date: 25/06/2022
• Luke Chambers AI and Machine Learning Nascent Visual Biometrics in Police Intelligence and Criminal Evidence – Impacts on Reliability and Fairness Start Date: 01/10/2021
• Anna Butler The circular economy – is the law a pragmatic driver or a distracting passenger? Start Date: 13/09/2021
• Angela Paul Police use of data from the sky: dissecting the human rights implications associated with deploying Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in law enforcement in England and Wales. Start Date: 18/01/2021
• David Powell Innovation to implementation: the critical implementation factors in developing a machine learning forecasting tool to predict reoffending in domestic abuse. Start Date: 01/10/2019

• Law PhD December 17 2020
• Law BA June 26 1991
• Solicitor (non-practising) 1994
• Member Law Society 1992
• Cert(Mang)
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. FHEA