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Human rights activists are rebelling against AI tracking every transaction of the British.
Human rights activists are concerned about the UK government's plans to launch mass surveillance of bank accounts to combat fraud in the field of social payments. It is planned to use automation and artificial intelligence to identify fraudulent transactions and errors that cost the budget 10 billion pounds a year. According to experts, such measures can seriously violate the privacy of citizens.
In a letter to Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, representatives of organizations working on disability rights, pensioners and privacy protection said that if banks scanned citizens' accounts for suspicious activity, it would be an "invasion of privacy" and could lead to punishment for vulnerable people.
Although the details of the bill (from the Conservative Party) are not yet known, the Department for Work and Pensions has said that the government will not have direct access to the accounts and will not use AI to analyze the data. If there are suspicions of fraud, then the investigation will be carried out by the employees of the ministry. It is believed that sharing data with banks will help save about £1.6 billion over 5 years.
Representatives of the Conservative Party have previously proposed a similar bill, but it did not pass parliament before elections in July. At that time, the initiative was supported in the technology industry, as the law could increase confidence in AI tools. However, aspects regarding data privacy and automated decisions have caused a lot of controversy.
The new bill may oblige banks and other companies to check the bank accounts of all citizens to identify violations (including overpayments) of recipients of social benefits. But such measures can only reveal about 3% of all losses due to errors and fraud.
The signatories of the letter note that such an approach to mass surveillance is "disproportionate". Human rights activists also express concerns that the system of algorithmic control could lead to errors and negatively affect the most vulnerable citizens.
The Ministry of Labor and Pensions, commenting on the situation, noted that the statements of the organizations are not true. According to the department, the new powers will be used carefully and proportionately, as well as under strict supervision. The information provided by banks will not be linked to the ministry's algorithms, and any signals of potential fraud will be comprehensively examined by the officer.
Concerns arise against the backdrop of the growing use of AI in government agencies: about 70% of departments are already using or planning to use AI. However, such algorithms are not perfect – it was recently revealed that the ministry's program mistakenly flagged more than 200,000 cases of suspected fraud.
Source
Human rights activists are concerned about the UK government's plans to launch mass surveillance of bank accounts to combat fraud in the field of social payments. It is planned to use automation and artificial intelligence to identify fraudulent transactions and errors that cost the budget 10 billion pounds a year. According to experts, such measures can seriously violate the privacy of citizens.
In a letter to Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, representatives of organizations working on disability rights, pensioners and privacy protection said that if banks scanned citizens' accounts for suspicious activity, it would be an "invasion of privacy" and could lead to punishment for vulnerable people.
Although the details of the bill (from the Conservative Party) are not yet known, the Department for Work and Pensions has said that the government will not have direct access to the accounts and will not use AI to analyze the data. If there are suspicions of fraud, then the investigation will be carried out by the employees of the ministry. It is believed that sharing data with banks will help save about £1.6 billion over 5 years.
Representatives of the Conservative Party have previously proposed a similar bill, but it did not pass parliament before elections in July. At that time, the initiative was supported in the technology industry, as the law could increase confidence in AI tools. However, aspects regarding data privacy and automated decisions have caused a lot of controversy.
The new bill may oblige banks and other companies to check the bank accounts of all citizens to identify violations (including overpayments) of recipients of social benefits. But such measures can only reveal about 3% of all losses due to errors and fraud.
The signatories of the letter note that such an approach to mass surveillance is "disproportionate". Human rights activists also express concerns that the system of algorithmic control could lead to errors and negatively affect the most vulnerable citizens.
The Ministry of Labor and Pensions, commenting on the situation, noted that the statements of the organizations are not true. According to the department, the new powers will be used carefully and proportionately, as well as under strict supervision. The information provided by banks will not be linked to the ministry's algorithms, and any signals of potential fraud will be comprehensively examined by the officer.
Concerns arise against the backdrop of the growing use of AI in government agencies: about 70% of departments are already using or planning to use AI. However, such algorithms are not perfect – it was recently revealed that the ministry's program mistakenly flagged more than 200,000 cases of suspected fraud.
Source
