The letter, written with colleagues Professor Ruth Gilbert and Ms Rachel Pearson from University College London, questions the evidence to support the approach and argues strongly for an evaluation of both the benefits and potential harms.

It was written in response to a recent report in The Guardian which revealed that local councils were using vast quantities of people’s data to ‘construct computer models in an effort to predict child abuse and intervene before it can happen’.

Professor Feder said: “As academics involved in researching child maltreatment and domestic violence over many years, we are concerned that purported benefits of algorithms must be supported by transparency and robust evidence of benefit.”

Read the letter.