Skip to main content
Hamburger menu icon Big Brother Watch logo
Subscribe Donate
×

Donate

About us

Our Team

Work with us

Funding

Free software

Legal support

Research

Campaigns

Media

Blog

Videos

Press releases

Press coverage

Reports

Subscribe

Contact

Events

©2009-2025 Big Brother Watch. All Rights Reserved.

Big Brother Watch, a limited company registered in England and Wales.
Registered office Chinaworks, London, SE1 7SJ
Registered number 06982557.

info@bigbrotherwatch.org.uk| Privacy Policy

WELFARE DATA WATCH



Dive into our investigation uncovering the Government’s use of secretive algorithms shaping the welfare system and disadvantaging society’s poorest.



TAKE ACTION

  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. REPORT
  3. THE KEY FINDINGS
  4. ENTER THE UK'S POVERTY PANOPTICON
  5. TAKE ACTION
  6. MAPPED
  7. IN THE MEDIA

Millions of people across the UK are being profiled by biased algorithms every year by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Our new report ‘Suspicion By Design’ is a deep dive into the DWP's growing use of AI, automation and algorithms to profile and flag people receiving benefits.

It examines the bias found in the DWP's machine learning models and the privacy risks posed by the government's suite of 'high-tech' anti-fraud tools. It also lays out the key questions around data protection and potential algorithmic discrimination that the government refuses to answer.

Dive into our new report's key findings to learn more about these shadowy profiling algorithms. Sunlight, not secrecy, is needed to see into the digital welfare system and expose the biases within.

  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. REPORT
  3. THE KEY FINDINGS
  4. ENTER THE UK'S POVERTY PANOPTICON
  5. TAKE ACTION
  6. MAPPED
  7. IN THE MEDIA

Suspicion by Design

Our new report ‘Suspicion by Design: What we know about the DWP's algorithmic black box and what it tries to hide’ details the massive expansion of AI, algorithm supported decision-making and biases in the benefits system. Read the report.

Image with link to the report titled Suspicion by Design

  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. REPORT
  3. THE KEY FINDINGS
  4. ENTER THE UK'S POVERTY PANOPTICON
  5. TAKE ACTION
  6. MAPPED
  7. IN THE MEDIA

OUR KEY FINDINGS

  • Around one million people were profiled by the Universal Credit Advances machine learning model last year, which is riddled with algorithmic bias.

  • The DWP went to court to try to keep details on the model’s data risks secret.

  • New machine learning models in development by the DWP contain significant potential for discrimination.

  • The DWP refuses to meet its obligations to publish details about its algorithms.

As Universal Credit moves the centre of the welfare state towards Whitehall, the report builds on our 9-month-long investigation “Poverty Panopticon: The Hidden Algorithms Shaping Britain’s Welfare State”.

This report revealed how councils across the UK are conducting mass profiling of welfare and social care recipients and “citizen scoring” to predict fraud, rent non-payments and major life events.

Inside the UK's Poverty Panopticon
Black box algorithms and secretive AI tools sit at the heart of the UK's welfare system - with little accountability. Our investigation offers a glimpse into life inside the UK’s poverty panopticon.
Enter
keywords
  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. REPORT
  3. THE KEY FINDINGS
  4. ENTER THE UK'S POVERTY PANOPTICON
  5. TAKE ACTION
  6. MAPPED
  7. IN THE MEDIA

Take Action

1

Join us!

Join us in our fight for a future where algorithm-driven injustices cease to impact thousands of lives in the UK.

Join us

2

Subscribe

Stay updated on important vital investigative work, campaign actions and alerts


Subscribe

3

Get in touch!

Have you been affected by DWP algorithms? Email us at info@bigbrotherwatch.org.uk and let us know.

Contact us

  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. REPORT
  3. THE KEY FINDINGS
  4. ENTER THE UK'S POVERTY PANOPTICON
  5. TAKE ACTION
  6. MAPPED
  7. IN THE MEDIA

Mapped

Find out if your local council uses people's personal data to decide if they are a ‘fraud risk’ using our interactive map.



  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. REPORT
  3. THE KEY FINDINGS
  4. ENTER THE UK'S POVERTY PANOPTICON
  5. TAKE ACTION
  6. MAPPED
  7. IN THE MEDIA

IN THE MEDIA

The Guardian – DWP algorithm mistakenly flags 200,000 people for possible fraud and error

June 23, 2024

BBC – Secretive algorithms screening millions of welfare claimants

July 20, 2021

Code overlayed on UK council houses
New Statesman – How surveillance within the welfare system is affecting Britain’s poorest people

July 20, 2021

Go to media

Join our email list

We're exposing and challenging threats to our privacy and civil liberties at a time of enormous technological change. Join our email list to be the first to know about our work:

Donate to
Big Brother Watch

We rely on your support to help our relentless battle against surveillance and censorship. Everything you give goes directly to our campaigning efforts to defend freedom. We fight to win – donate today.

DONATE

©2025 Big Brother Watch. All Rights Reserved.

  • About us
  • Campaigns
  • Reports
  • Research
  • Media
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Privacy Policy