Current location:Global Gaze news portal > travel
Government will treat elderly 'like criminals' under controversial new bank snooping law
Global Gaze news portal2024-05-19 13:29:29【travel】6People have gathered around
IntroductionControversial powers to allow the Government to access the public's bank accounts in order to uneart
Controversial powers to allow the Government to access the public's bank accounts in order to unearth fraud are opposed by a majority of Britons, according to new polling.
Ten million pensioners will be among those whose personal accounts will be secretly scanned to check for welfare fraud under plans that have been described by senior politicians as 'a snoopers' charter'.
A poll by YouGov, commissioned by the campaign group Big Brother Watch, has found that 56 per cent of voters oppose the plans, while 44 per cent regard the infringement of privacy as a fair price to pay for detecting fraud.
The powers have been added to a Data Bill going through Parliament that would legally force banks, building societies and other organisations to secretly scan all bank accounts to look for indicators of welfare fraud and error.
This would include the accounts of those receiving the state pension and welfare payments, such as mothers who receive children's benefits directly.
Nigel Farage has said 'everyone across the political spectrum, Left and Right, should be outraged by this attack on financial privacy'
The powers have been added to a Data Bill going through Parliament that would legally force banks, building societies and other organisations to secretly scan all bank accounts to look for indicators of welfare fraud and error (stock photo)
It would also cover all of the accounts held by landlords who receive their tenants' housing benefit directly.
Reform UK founder Nigel Farage, who launched a successful campaign against the NatWest group for 'debanking' him over his political beliefs, said 'everyone across the political spectrum, Left and Right, should be outraged by this attack on financial privacy'.
Former Brexit secretary David Davis said: 'Under the proposals, everyone in receipt of money from the Government's Department for Work and Pensions will be of special interest, including the 10million who receive the state pension. The idea that pensioners should be caught up in the net of this giant financial fishing exercise is completely absurd.
'Short of tracking our every movement, there could be no more invasive way for the state to monitor us than keeping tabs on our spending habits.'
Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, described the move as 'dangerously authoritarian'. She said it would treat millions of innocent pensioners, disabled people, parents and carers 'like criminals', intrude on the wider population's financial privacy and reverse the 'British presumption of innocence'.
Former Brexit secretary David Davis said: 'Short of tracking our every movement, there could be no more invasive way for the state to monitor us than keeping tabs on our spending habits'
Ms Carlo added that the 'mass algorithmic surveillance' of the public risked a miscarriage of justice similar to that which occurred to staff working for the Post Office, and was likely to recoup only 3 per cent of the annual amount lost to fraud.
A Government spokesman said: 'These changes do not allow direct access to any bank accounts.
'Instead, third parties will be required to share data with us only when it signals potential fraud or error, and DWP will not be able to see how claimants or pensioners spend their money.'
The spokesman added: 'We have a duty to treat taxpayers' money responsibly, which is why we are cracking down on fraud.
'This is backed up by our £900 million Fraud Plan, which will bolster our counter-fraud operations and root out those who steal from the most vulnerable.'
Address of this article:http://paracelislands.barryexit.org/news-42e499462.html
Very good!(5)
Related articles
- Twins' Byron Buxton is back after 2
- Historical community grows with new vitality in China's Guangdong
- Tourists enjoy cherry blossoms in Wuhan
- Xi Focus: Xi Calls for Making Beijing
- 2 shot dead on outskirts of Paris
- Scenic spots in ice cream competition to attract tourists
- Xi Replies to Letter from Students, Calling for Greater Contributions to Rural Revitalization
- Scenery of Lhalu wetland national nature reserve in Lhasa
- Georgia's president vetoes media legislation that has provoked weeks of protests
- Xi Focus: Xi Urges Modernization of Industrial System, High
Popular articles
Recommended
Chinese sci
Xi Holds Talks with Kazakh President
Tourists enjoy cherry blossoms in Wuhan
China’s first national botanical garden to take shape in Beijing
Chinese books attract global attention at Italy's biggest book fair
China, Central Asia Ready for Milestone Summit to Build Closer Ties
In pics: Guangyang Isle in SW China's Chongqing
Xi Holds Talks with Kazakh President
Links
- Daisy Edgar
- What to know about a bus crash that killed 8 Mexican farmworkers in Florida
- Trevor Rogers and the Marlins bullpen shut out the Tigers for the second straight day in a 2
- Mariners activate Dominic Canzone off injured list. J.P. Crawford getting closer to return
- Pakistani court grants bail to Imran Khan in a graft case. But he won't be released just yet
- Iraq calls for ending UN assistance mission by end of 2025
- Selena Gomez jets to Hollywood alongside Steve Martin and Martin Short in star
- Selena Gomez jets to Hollywood alongside Steve Martin and Martin Short in star
- Cancer claims Iditarod champion Rick Mackey. His father and brother also won famed Alaska race
- The US says Boeing violated a 2021 settlement. That doesn't mean the company will face charges