Another hammer to tackle a vulnerable nut
Worth a read. This is the paper that broke and carried on reporting on the Post Office Scandal/Larceny well before Private Eye, Panorama or ITV got into it.
'potentially unlimited powers for new “bank scanning” algorithms, which are being proposed to tackle “fraud”… so out of control that the fraud rate for disability benefits is only 0.2%’
ComputerWeekly.comGovernment plans to scan bank accounts of disabled people will lead to another scandal | Computer WeeklyIt looks like we’re sleepwalking into another Horizon scandal. Disabled people up and down the country are sounding the alarm ahead, with 6.3 million of us potentially affected by the government’s latest dalliance with untested, unscrutinised, and potentially unlimited powers for new “bank scanning” algorithms, which are being proposed to tackle “fraud”. An issue that is seemingly so out of control that the fraud rate for disability benefits is only 0.2%; the government’s latest plans are essentially a digital sledgehammer to crack the tiniest nut. The Data Protection and Information Bill, currently moving through the House of Lords, would give the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) unprecedented powers to monitor the financial activity of benefit claimants without their knowledge or consent. While this surprise attack on financial privacy has drawn condemnation from many sectors, its effects will be felt particularly sharply by disabled people, who have long borne the brunt of the Department’s hostility.
