Over 100,000 people have signed petitions calling on ministers to shelve plans to bring in powers to check benefit claimants’ bank accounts.
The measures in the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill would allow DWP officials to look over people’s accounts to check for fraud, such as to look for anyone with savings above the limits for benefit entitlement.
Officials would also use the checks to spot anyone who is spending more time abroad than they are allowed.
Three petitions have been set up opposing the measures, including one on the organise website which has had more than 72,000 signatures at the time of writing.
The petition states: “What we spend our money on is a private matter and we shouldn’t have to justify ourselves to anyone.
“Disabled people claiming PIP and other disability-related benefits (like LCWRA and LCW, DLA and ESA) buy the things they need to make life more tolerable and to help them to overcome barriers and difficulties, like mobility aids and care.”
Another petition on the 38Degrees website has had more than 31,000 people pledge their support. The campaigners said: “This is a major expansion of Government power that takes away our financial privacy like never before and does away with the presumption of innocence – the democratic principle that you shouldn’t be spied on unless police suspect you of wrongdoing.
“People who are disabled, sick, carers or looking for work should not be treated like criminals by default. None of us should. We must stop this.”
There is also a petition on the Parliament website which has reached 12,000 signatures, meaning the Government must provide a response.
The campaigners accused the Goverment of being “too aggressive” towards benefit claimants and that the policy denies people’s rights.
The petition states: “We believe the Government’s approach to benefit claimants is undermining their rights. It is now time for those rights to be upheld and preserved.
“Unless a person is suspected of fraudulent or criminal activities, their privacy of bank accounts and financial standing should be protected.
“It is totally unacceptable for a Government department to infringe and deny these freedoms regardless of whether the individual is a benefit claimant or not.”
The new powers would involve the UK’s biggest banks creating computer systems to monitor accounts for any activity that could breach the benefit rules.
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