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This from Maggie Nelmes, Ventnor. Ed
Did you know that, after calling a General Election, a government can rush through any outstanding legislation without the requirement for proper scrutiny by Parliament and the House of Lords?
Unprecedented financial surveillance powers
The Data Protection and Digital Information Bill gives particular cause for concern. Some nine months after this legislation was introduced in Parliament, two amendments, Clause 131 and Schedule 11, were added, giving the Government unprecedented financial surveillance powers to trawl through the private bank, building society and other financial accounts of all those receiving welfare benefits.
The impact
These unrestricted powers could breach the individual’s right to privacy and data protection, and harm the most vulnerable people in our society.
The Department of Work and Pensions could force banks, building societies and other financial services to search through all their customer accounts, without any grounds for suspicion of fraud. Sensitive details of individuals’ private lives, their religious and trade union affiliations, health information and sexual orientation could all be exposed to scrutiny.
Breach of the Human Rights Act
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has called for these powers to be removed from the Bill. And a legal opinion, commissioned by Big Brother Watch and written by Dan Squires KC and Aidan Wills, has found that the powers are likely to breach UK privacy rights under Article 8 of the Human Rights Act.
Some 22.6 million people are dependent on welfare benefits – those who are disabled, sick, caregivers, job seekers, and pensioners. I think it is outrageous to treat them all with suspicion in this way, simply for receiving money from the state. UK law is based on presumption of innocence, but this is blanket presumption of guilt.
Must avoid a repeat of the Post Office/Horizon scandal
Besides, using algorithms to scan millions of accounts is highly likely to result in mistakes. Those most affected will be people already struggling to make ends meet, suffering all the anxiety that this engenders.
The Post Office/Horizon scandal caused the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of people, using data from faulty software, but instead of admitting their mistakes and rectifying them, that government department callously tried to cover it all up. In doing so, they caused horrendous suffering to hundreds of postmasters and their families, just to save face. This must not be allowed to happen again.
A what cost to human rights and civil liberties?
The Government calculates that this surveillance would generate some £250 million in net annual revenue, less than 3% of the estimated annual loss to fraud and error, demonstrating that these powers would not be effective, despite their cost to human rights and civil liberties.
Of course, the Government is duty-bound to tackle fraud, but it already has the means to investigate those suspected of dishonesty, without needing to resort to this shameful mass-surveillance. These powers have no place in the Bill or in our democracy.
Mass surveillance of their own citizens is to be expected of dictatorships like Putin’s Russia, China and North Korea, not of democracies like the UK.
Sign this petition
Please sign this petition to Rishi Sunak to drop Clause 131 and Schedule 11 of the DPDI Bill in their entirety:
