BBC – Secretive algorithms screening millions of welfare claimants

Big Brother Watch Team / July 20, 2021

Councils across the UK are using secretive algorithms to screen millions of welfare claimants, civil liberties group Big Brother Watch has revealed.

The algorithms, which are marketed as fraud prevention measures, “treat the poor with suspicion and prejudice”, Head of Investigations and research at Big Brother Watch, Jake Hurfurt said.

Big Brother Watch has launched an official complaint to the Information Commissioner, following the publication of their latest report “Poverty Panopticon: the hidden algorithms shaping Britain’s welfare state”.

BBC – Council algorithms mass profile millions, campaigners say

Guardian – Calls for legal review of UK welfare screening system which factors in age

NewStatesman – “It’s the poorest in society who are being surveilled”: the quiet rise of citizen-scoring algorithms

Manchester Mill – Salford Council and a ‘secretive’ algorithm used to assess welfare claimants

Bristol Cable – How a police and council database is predicting if your child is at risk of harm

 

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