Home Office contractor collected data on UK citizens while checking migrants’ finances
The Home Office has been accused of collecting data on “hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting British citizens” while conducting financial checks on migrants.A report by a private contractor for a routine immigration application was mistakenly sent to a charity by a government official, and contained information on more than 260 people including their names, dates of birth and electoral roll data.Their only connection to the applicant appears to be that they previously lived or worked in the same address or postcode area, but some of the people listed had left as far back as 1986.The document, seen by the Observer, was generated by the credit reporting firm Equifax on 25 June 2024 and was emailed to a caseworker from the Refugee and Migrant Forum of Essex and London (Ramfel) later the same day.It was drawn up for an immigration fee waiver application, which requires financial checks to verify that people cannot afford to pay the normal fee for their visa, immigration or nationality applications.
More than 80,000 of these applications were lodged in the year to September,Nick Beales, Ramfel’s head of campaigning, said the number of people named in the single report suggested that the Home Office could have been “collecting financial data on hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting British citizens”,Equifax, which was subject to one of the largest cybersecurity breaches in history in 2017, included a disclaimer in the report, which read: “The volume and nature of the information available on this service makes it impractical for Equifax Ltd to verify it … This service is made available only for your own private or in-house purposes,”Beales said the Home Office did not respond to an initial email flagging the data breach, and the charity wrote to Matthew Rycroft, permanent secretary at the Home Office, in November,The letter said: “This raises serious questions about transparency, privacy, and potentially non-consensual data collection, as we cannot imagine any of these people, the majority of whom are likely British citizens with no prior engagement with the Home Office, have ever knowingly consented to the Home Office receiving and storing their data.
”Ramfel asked whether data on third parties was destroyed after use and what measures were in place to minimise unnecessary information collection and sharing, but a response received in December did not answer the questions.A letter from Joanna Rowland, director general of the Home Office’s customer services group, said: “I cannot comment on individual processes in detail, but I note your suggestions and have asked officials in the relevant departments to consider them.The Home Office works hard to ensure the UK General Data Protection Regulations and Data Protection legislation is fully complied with.This means processing and securely storing the minimal amount of personal data necessary to execute our functions, lawfully and effectively, and deleting data which is not necessary.”The Home Office told the Observer it was investigating whether a data breach had taken place.
It no longer used Equifax for visa fee waiver processing.Government statistics show a steep rise in the number of fee waiver applications since the Conservative government increased the immigration health surcharge from £624 to £1,035 a year for most adult visa applicants in February 2024.The number of people declaring they could not afford the fees jumped from 13,600 in the last three months of 2023 to 18,500 in the first quarter of 2024, 22,800 in the second quarter and 25,600 between July and September, and backlogs are growing.Sign up to ObservedAnalysis and opinion on the week's news and culture brought to you by the best Observer writers after newsletter promotionBeales said: “With applications for leave to remain already costing nearly £4,000, additional intrusive checks on a person’s finances are clearly unnecessary for those on low incomes or receiving disability benefits.“Removing these checks would help the Labour government streamline visa processing, reduce extensive delays that see people waiting over a year for their visas to be issued and stop the mass collection of data of non-consenting third parties.
”Equifax provides services to government departments and public bodies including the Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue & Customs, the Ministry of Defence, Student Loans Company, the Ministry of Justice and NHS Business Services Authority.In 2023, the firm was fined £11m by the Financial Conduct Authority over a data breach in which hackers accessed information on almost 14 million UK consumers because of data protection failures.A spokesperson for Equifax UK declined to comment but pointed to legal guidance stating that credit reference agencies do not require consent for data collection and instead rely on “legitimate interest” under data protection laws.A Home Office spokesperson said: “Any data breach is a matter of serious concern, and we ensure they are fully investigated.We continue to take robust action by continually monitoring training and safeguards to protect personal data.
” The subheading of this article was amended on 23 February 2025.An earlier version said incorrectly that Equifax accidentally sent the report to a charity; it was sent by a government official as stated in the article itself.
RFU adds extra England Test and leaves Borthwick without warm-weather camp
Steve Borthwick will have to forgo a crucial training camp and guide England into this year’s autumn internationals with a week’s less preparation after the Rugby Football Union arranged an extra lucrative November Test against Australia.England habitually play three autumn internationals in the same year as a British & Irish Lions tour but the RFU arranged a fourth, which could generate up to £10m in revenue, after its latest accounts reported record losses to reserves of £42m.The new professional game partnership (PGP) – worth £33m a year to the Premiership clubs – allows for England players to be released for an extra week before the start of international campaigns. They miss a round of domestic fixtures as a result and Borthwick uses the time to oversee a warm‑weather training camp in Girona. The extra week’s access to players was also a key part of the previous arrangement between the RFU and the Premiership
England and Ireland remind Six Nations rivals that points win prizes
Style and beauty count for only so much in top‑level sport, as Welsh and Scottish supporters were eventually reminded on Saturday. There are no marks for artistic merit, no specific rewards (beyond a try bonus point) for throwing the ball around in the name of entertainment. Occasionally, though, there are days when the losers’ enterprise and energy leaves the deepest impression.None more so, at long last, than Wales. After barely four training sessions under their interim head coach, Matt Sherratt, they looked a team who have not so much had an extreme makeover as assumed a whole fresh identity
Antoine Dupont to the fore as France run riot with 11-try thrashing of Italy
If there were questions over France’s ability to finish teams off after coughing up numerous chances against England a fortnight ago, they have been thoroughly put to bed. A ruthless 11-try demolition of a handy Italy side on their own patch served as a reminder that, on their day, there are few better outfits in rugby than a French team in full flow.Fabien Galthié, the head coach, made some bold selection decisions, dropping his ace wing Damian Penaud and fly-half Matthieu Jalibert from the match-day 23. A seven-one bench split was a sign of the plan and France’s power game duly delivered. They stomped over the gainline with just about every carry, unloaded six heavies off the bench in one go on 48 minutes and pulverised the Italians, who sparkled on rare occasions but were totally outgunned
Steve Borthwick may focus on results but England fans want to see an identity | Gerard Meagher
About an hour after the final whistle on Saturday, England’s victorious players still swigging from the Calcutta Cup, Steve Borthwick was deep inside Twickenham discussing how his players finally got their hands back on the trophy. He was justifying their route-one tactics, explaining why England showcased so little with ball in hand; essentially, why they seemed to revert to a tactical approach that wins matches but few admirers.Borthwick was asked a perfectly reasonable question – was it the coaches’ decision to do so or the players adapting on the hoof in response to Scotland’s gameplan? – and he did not answer it properly. He was bristling, looking for hidden meaning in the question that just wasn’t there. He was asked it again and once more failed to provide an answer
Freeman believes in England’s Six Nations title hopes despite fans’ boos
Tommy Freeman has admitted that England understand supporters’ frustrations amid a chorus of boos during the scrappy win against Scotland, but he believes Steve Borthwick’s team are still alive in the Six Nations title race after back-to-back wins.Borthwick has revealed that Freeman’s Northampton teammate George Furbank is unlikely to feature in the final two games, against Italy and Wales, having suggested previously that he could, but England go into the second fallow week third in the table with favourable fixtures to come.While the 16-15 victory on Saturday ended a run of four successive defeats by Scotland, and was a first against the auld enemy at Twickenham since 2017, supporters made clear their feelings regarding England’s route-one approach and they could be heard groaning and jeering as Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith put boot to ball. The former captain Will Carling described England’s victory as “very ugly” while the World Cup winner Will Greenwood said “they simply play no rugby”.Scotland scored three tries to England’s one – a controversial score by Freeman amid uncertainty over whether he grounded the ball – but the 23-year-old winger sought to explain his side’s approach
Liam Livingstone must finally seize moment for England on global stage | Ali Martin
The England players who hit the golf course on Sunday morning probably did the right thing, really. Back at the team hotel they were replaying the defeat against Australia the previous night on a jumbo‑sized screen, with the gentle flute muzak in the lobby barely softening the sight of Josh Inglis going gangbusters.Plenty went back to their own struggle to tee off with the bat. At the 30-over mark, England were 200 with just two down, only to finish 351 for eight. It was their highest score at a global event, the highest by any side at a Champions Trophy
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