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DWP using ‘excessive surveillance’ against disabled people suspected of benefit fraud, Privacy International reveals

THE Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is using “excessive surveillance” against disabled people suspected of committing benefit fraud, a new report alleges. 

Measures include following claimants, obtaining CCTV footage from supermarkets and requesting membership information from gyms and even bingo halls.

The shocking level of surveillance in the welfare system was revealed by Privacy International following an analysis of a 995-page guide to DWP staff on how to conduct fraud investigations. 

Information obtained through surveillance is used to find out claimants’ living arrangements and, more disturbingly, to assess whether someone claiming disability benefit is in fact disabled.

The guide states that surveillance should be used to “obtain evidence of a person’s physical capability and in some cases their mental capability too.” 

Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) founder Linda Burnip said that this type of “excessive” surveillance fails to take into account that many disabled people’s impairments fluctuate and that it denies claimants “any right to privacy.” 

Privacy International senior researcher Eva Blum-Dumontet said: “It is time for the DWP to realise that a good welfare system is when benefits are being delivered to support people, especially in the current context we are going through, not a system where resources are invested to spy on people in vulnerable situations.”

The group’s two-part investigation also found that the DWP uses algorithms to identify people potentially committing benefit fraud.

Requests for more information on how these algorithms are used were rejected by the DWP, despite concerns being raised about cases where algorithms replicated human bias and prejudice.

The DWP claimed that disclosing such information could facilitate fraud.

Big Brother Watch head of research and investigations Jake Hurfurt said: “There is no justification for algorithmic surveillance of thousands of people who claim benefits, just to see if there is a chance they could have made an error in their claims.

“People must be told how their information is used and why. The DWP should not hide behind exemptions to justify secret data processing with zero public accountability.”

Privacy International also alleges that the DWP works with tabloid newspapers to promote “benefit cheat” stories, with the guide stating that the “DWP aims to achieve as much media coverage as possible for prosecutions.”

In response to the findings welfare charity Turn2us urged the DWP to stop working with tabloids, citing the role of benefit fraud stories in creating “a public perception that it is a much bigger problem than it actually is.”

"The nasty narrative around social security users puts others off claiming what they are entitled to,” the charity’s external affairs manager Liam Evans said.

“Around £18bn of benefits are unclaimed every year, and many people are missing out because of fear of shame and stigma. This is why it is so crucial to change the way we talk about benefits.”

A DWP spokesperson said that Privacy International’s report “grossly mischaracterises” the use and extent of its powers, which are limited and only used to detect and prevent potential crime when all other lines of enquiry have been exhausted. 

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