UPDATE: We defeated the previous government's plans to spy on all of our bank accounts. These proposals were Orwellian, cruel and intrusive in the extreme but now, the new Labour Government want to bring them back. Join the 170,000 who rejected these plans and our sign our petition to say Stop Bank Spying if you haven't already.
Sir Keir Starmer is pushing plans we defeated under the Conservative Government - to spy on all of our bank accounts on the premise of dealing with welfare fraud and error.
These Orwellian new powers will force banks to flag people who meet secret criteria to the government.
Everyone wants fraudulent uses of public money to be dealt with, and the government already has strong powers to check the bank statements of suspects.
But this is a major expansion of government power.
It takes away our financial privacy like never before and does away with the presumption of innocence - the democratic principle that you shouldn't be spied on unless police suspect you of wrongdoing. People who are disabled, sick, carers or looking for work should not be treated like criminals by default. None of us should.
We must resist these new powers. Join us in standing up for privacy, equality and financial freedom and support our campaign to stop bank spying today.
PETITION
After over 170,000 of you signed our petition, Rishi Sunak's Conservative Government were forced to junk these intrusive plans.
But now they're back, it's clear we need to send a new message to Labour and demand that they drop the latest version of these bank spying powers.
SIGN HERE
EMAIL YOUR MP
Write to your MP using our template below demanding that the Government scrap their proposed bank spying powers:
1: Copy the template response below
2: Paste, personalise and email your MP. Click here to find out who your MP is, if you aren't sure. You can find your MP's contact information by using the same search tool.
You can use our template response below to get going, but please personalise it and politely express your own concerns as these are far more impactful than copy and pasted responses.
Please share this action widely!
Template Response
Subject line: Stop bank spying powers
Dear MP,
I am writing to you to express my concerns regarding the financial surveillance powers recently proposed by the Prime Minister Keir Starmer, which he says are designed to tackle fraud and error in the welfare system. These proposals strongly resemble powers that the Sunak Government attempted to introduce in the previous Parliament, which were shelved after receiving cross-party opposition in both Houses of Parliament, 42 civil society organisations, and from over 270,000 members of the public, who signed petitions calling for the measures to be scrapped. The previous powers threatened privacy, data protection, and the most vulnerable in our society. They have no place in our democracy and should not be reintroduced in any form.
Impact on privacy
The proposed measures involve the use of mass algorithmic surveillance to scan bank and other third party accounts. They will compel third parties including banks, building societies, and other financial services to trawl all customer accounts without prior suspicion of fraudulent activity. Legal experts found that the previous proposals were so intrusive that they could create a detailed and intrusive view of the private lives of those affected and could reveal sensitive details like political opinions, trade union memberships, religious and philosophical beliefs, health information, and sexual orientation. The Equality and Human Rights Commission called for the first iteration of these powers to be junked and a legal opinion, commissioned by Big Brother Watch and written by Dan Squires KC and Aidan Wills, found that the powers were likely to breach UK privacy rights. As such, these plans may be unlawful and a breach of individuals’ right to privacy, protected by article 8 of the Human Rights Act. Given the strong resemblance of Labour’s plans to the previous measures, we feel it to emphasise that any adaptation of these plans reproducing a slew of risks, potentially severely impacting millions of people.
Impact on equality
The previous proposals powers did not require someone to be suspected of fraud before their account is subject to surveillance by being scanned for “matching criteria”. Instead, the presumption of innocence was reversed, subjecting people to unwarranted scrutiny simply for receiving benefits. It is incredibly worrying to see Labour now pursuing what appears to be the same “surveillance first, ask later” approach that it previously opposed.
There are approximately 22.6 million individuals in the welfare system, including those who are disabled, sick, caregivers, job seekers, and pensioners. They should not be treated with suspicion in this way, simply for receiving money from the state.
Using algorithms to scan millions of accounts is highly likely to result in mistakes. The people most affected will be people already suffering on the poverty line including those who are vulnerable, sick or disabled, elderly people, those who care for people in these groups, and others. The Horizon scandal saw hundreds of people wrongfully prosecuted using data from faulty software. The Government must learn from this mistake – not replicate it en masse.
Ineffective and disproportionate
The powers are entirely disproportionate. According to the previous government’s analysis, if the powers work as estimated, they are expected to generate approximately £250 million in net annual revenue. This amount is less than 3% of the estimated annual loss to fraud and error, demonstrating that these powers will not be effective despite their cost to human rights and civil liberties. It is important to note that a range of state powers already exist to tackle fraud in the welfare system. Fraud must be tackled but the Government already have the powers to do this.
These powers have no place in our democracy. They are an unprecedented and disproportionate invasion of the public’s financial privacy, the effect of which will be felt most sharply by the most vulnerable in our society. Please call on the Government to reconsider the introduction of these financial surveillance powers.
Regards,
[Your name]
[Your full address - this is required because MPs need to verify your constituency to merit a response].
5 Key Issues
1. Violates privacy
The proposed bank spying powers would force third party organisations to trawl all customers’ accounts in search of “matching accounts”.
More info
It would allow the Government’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to access the personal data of welfare recipients by requiring the third party served with a notice – such as a bank, building society or online marketplace - to conduct mass monitoring without suspicion of fraudulent activity. In order to do this, the bank will have to process the data of all bank account holders and conduct mass scanning according to secret search criteria supplied by the DWP.
2. Undermines the presumption of innocence
The mass suspicionless nature of the Government’s proposed new powers mean that they seriously threaten the presumption of innocence; the democratic principle that you shouldn't be spied on unless police suspect you of wrongdoing.
More info
The government should not intrude on the privacy of anyone’s bank account in this country without very good reason and a strong legal justification, whether a person is receiving benefits or not. People who are disabled, sick, carers, looking for work, or indeed linked to any of those people should not be treated like criminals by default.
3. Impacts society's most vulnerable
The new powers would impact some of the poorest people in our society.
More info
This would mean that people with disabilities or long-term illnesses, carers, or even elderly people relying on pensions would be subject to their private financial data being pre-emptively intruded on by banks and other private companies they engage with. Their accounts could then potentially examined by the government without their knowledge putting them at risk of consequential harms.
4. Unnecessary
It is right that fraudulent uses of public money are robustly dealt with and the government already has significant powers to review the bank statements of fraud suspects under existing laws.
More info
Under current rules, DWP can request bank account holders’ bank transaction details as and when needed" because even without suspicion of fraud, DWP can ask for bank statements (e.g. to evaluate or re-evaluate a claim).
5. Disproportionate and ineffective
The Government's own analysis shows that, if it works as hoped, this unprecedented bank intrusion is expected to generate approx. £250m net annual revenue – this would be mean recovering less than 1/34th or less than 3% of the estimated annual loss to fraud and error (the 'best estimate' is still only £320m).
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BRIEFINGS
IN THE MEDIA
Spiked – Labour wants to spy on your bank accounts
October 8, 2024
The Guardian – Keir Starmer plans to reintroduce bank spying powers
September 24, 2024