The UK government is proposing to give the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) powers to force financial institutions to hand over personal information belonging to people who claim benefits from the state. The plans have been presented as an amendment to the Data Protection and Digital Information (DPDI) Bill, which returns to the House of Commons for its third reading and report stage on Wednesday 29 November.The proposals will remove safeguards and accountability for requesting financial data from institutions, meaning that DWP would be allowed to bypass the safeguards enshrined in UK data protection law and gain access to UK residents’ bank accounts arbitrarily. ORG believes that this data could easily be misinterpreted and benefits sanctions incorrectly imposed.read the full article here …
A group of tech companies and civil society organisations has urged UK policymakers to reconsider their approach to online safety legislation, warning that proposed age-gating measures and access restrictions...