The first legal challenge against the government's use of an algorithm is currently going through the UK courts. The algorithm, which was rolled out in secret, is being used by the Home Office to “stream” visa applications according to their supposed level of risk.

In assessing the level of risk, the Home Office take into account the applicant's nationality. This essentially leads to "speedy boarding for white people" say the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and not-for-profit Foxglove, who are bringing the litigation.

In the fourth and final episode of our podcast series, we spoke to Cori Crider, a lawyer and the Director of Foxglove, about how algorithms can lead to poor quality and biased decision making. We also hear about the barriers civil society faces in scrutinising automated-decision making and why this is a major challenge of our time.