Closed petition End surveillance of welfare claimants

Closed on 10 September 2021

It has been reported that the DWP uses invasive data gathering techniques to try and prove that people claiming benefits are actually living lavish lifestyles, despite that only 1.4% of benefits are overpaid due to fraud. It must stop this immediately.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) uses tactics including social media monitoring, covert physical surveillance, and data gathering from private companies to monitor welfare claimants, despite that only 1.4% is overpaid due to fraud and 89% of investigated fraud allegations prove to be non-fraudulent.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3g9n5/how-the-government-spies-on-welfare-claimants
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/888423/fraud-and-error-stats-release-2019-2020-estimates-revised-29-may-2020.pdf
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/615813/response/1468745/attach/html/2/reply%2039323.pdf.html