Oh no, you're thinking, yet another cookie pop-up. Well, sorry, it's the law. We measure how many people read us, and ensure you see relevant ads, by storing cookies on your device. If you're cool with that, hit “Accept all Cookies”. For more info and to customize your settings, hit “Customize Settings”.

Review and manage your consent

Here's an overview of our use of cookies, similar technologies and how to manage them. You can also change your choices at any time, by hitting the “Your Consent Options” link on the site's footer.

Manage Cookie Preferences
  • These cookies are strictly necessary so that you can navigate the site as normal and use all features. Without these cookies we cannot provide you with the service that you expect.

  • These cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you. They perform functions like preventing the same ad from continuously reappearing, ensuring that ads are properly displayed for advertisers, and in some cases selecting advertisements that are based on your interests.

  • These cookies collect information in aggregate form to help us understand how our websites are being used. They allow us to count visits and traffic sources so that we can measure and improve the performance of our sites. If people say no to these cookies, we do not know how many people have visited and we cannot monitor performance.

See also our Cookie policy and Privacy policy.

This article is more than 1 year old

Campaigners get go-ahead to challenge exemption UK gave itself over immigrants' data

Sueball lobbed at Brit government over Data Protection Act

The High Court has agreed to hear a campaign group's case against the UK's Data Protection Act, which they say leaves immigrants with fewer rights over their data.

The sueball – lobbed by the Open Rights Group and EU citizens' group the3million – targets an exemption in the Act that was passed into law last May.

The groups want to remove this exemption from the Act, on the grounds that it is incompatible with the General Data Protection Regulation and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The exemption in question (schedule 2, part 1, paragraph 4) removes some data rights if that data is processed for the "maintenance of effective immigration control", or if it is deemed likely to "prejudice" that.

That includes the right to access data, to restrict processing, to object to processing and the right to erasure, which are provided for in the GDPR.

The campaigners argued that this creates a two-tier system of data protection rights, and have also complained that "immigration control" is poorly defined – the implication being that there is a risk of mission creep.

The High Court held an oral hearing this morning to decide on whether to hear the case. According to the3million, the judge has granted permission for the case to go ahead, saying that "the case has merit to be heard and that both sides argued with force".

One of the major reasons campaigners are concerned is that the current set-up could prevent people from gaining access to information they need to appeal government decisions related to immigration status.

Lawyers handling appeals for asylum seekers often rely on this right to access in order to get hold of people’s immigration histories and challenge Home Office decisions.

According to information released in the House of Lords, in the 10 years to 2015, some 250,000 appeals were allowed against the Home Office, and the Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration found a 10 per cent error rate in immigration status checks.

Opponents use such stats as evidence that immigrants need to be able to challenge the Home Office, and that they should be allowed access to the information required to do so.

"This exemption would allow these mistakes to go unchallenged," the3million said when launching the case. "These errors could lead to an application being refused or even deportation."

Similar issues were debated in Parliament during the passage of the bill, with SNP MP Joanna Cherry saying that the exemption would "have the effect of insulating the government from challenges to unlawful decision making".

Her fellow SNP member Brendan O'Hara also raised concerns about the fact that there was no legal definition of immigration control on the face of the bill.

"Given that effective immigration control is both highly subjective and highly political, I fear it will make individuals' rights extremely susceptible to changes in political tides," said SNP MP Brendan O’Hara.

The Open Rights Group, meanwhile, has said previously that the exemption also "removes restrictions from sharing of data between bodies; a shadowy, opaque, pernicious problem" – and called the exemption a "blunt instrument". ®

Similar topics

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like