Big Brother Watch’s briefng on benefts and fnancial mass surveillance powers in

(…) This is in addition to the previous underpayment of £1.2 billion affecting 165,000 pensioners due to historical errors by DWP.”5 The State Pension is one of the benefts the government plans to target with this surveillance power, However, DWP is only seeking to use the proposed power to “recover monies owed to DWP”6 – not to pay the billions of pounds underpaid and owed to citizens. [...] In December 2023, the Public Accounts Committee noted that the DWP has not been clear as to what proportion of beneft claims have been subject to this algorithmic surveillance, nor has it published any assessment of the impact on customers.40 Big Brother Watch shares the Committee’s concerns about the lack of transparency surrounding these tools and the lack of consideration of claimants who may b. [...] The EHRC has expressed concerns of ‘unnecessary and disproportionate checks on the bank accounts of beneft claimants, disproportionately impacting people with certain protected characteristics’41 and warned of the ‘signifcant risk that the intrusive nature of this proposal breaches Article 8 (right to privacy) and Article 14 (freedom from discrimination) of the ECHR’.42 23. [...] The Minister confrmed that landlords would be impacted during Committee Stage of the Bill in the House of Lords and admitted that the powers would even extend to charity and joint accounts where landlords in receipt of tenants’ housing beneft are named on such accounts.53 Affected landlords will also be at heightened risk of DWP errors and wrongful investigations arising from the surveillance. [...] During the debate, the Minister Viscount Younger claimed that ‘there are appropriate safeguards in place for this data-gathering power, which will be included in the code of practice’.61 However, the drafting of the Bill is staggeringly broad, and the necessary safeguards are not present on the face of the Bill.