"Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HRMC), the UK tax agency, had suspended 23,500 payments to nearly 350 families, erroneously believing that they had left the country. In fact, many had simply booked to go on holiday - and the UK government did not have the data to know if they did. It appears the government used travel surveillance data, implemented by many governments worldwide as a response to 9/11, to accuse people of no longer living in the country,"
"Another checked in to a flight from London's Heathrow airport but, as it was cancelled, never took it. She contacted HRMC to inform them - but they they didn't believe her. "We're very sorry to those whose payments have been suspended incorrectly," HRMC said in a statement,"
"But the debacle reveals how the government's controversial tactic of accessing airlines' passenger bookings data to inform assessments is not fit for purpose, both in principle and in practice. Sharing of passenger records between agencies to determine benefits is a clear case of "function creep". Once purportedly used to prevented terrorism, this data is now a factor to"
The UK Government paused cuts to parents' child benefits after a surveillance practice produced numerous errors. Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs suspended 23,500 payments to nearly 350 families on the basis that recipients had left the country. Many affected people had only booked holidays or cancelled flights, and the government lacked reliable data to confirm departures. Cases include a mother told she had left for the Netherlands despite later giving birth in Belfast, and a traveller whose cancelled flight led officials to disbelieve her. HRMC apologised and pledged to check with recipients before suspending payments. The use of passenger records for benefits is described as function creep.
Read at Privacy International
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