David Davis has been a prominent campaigner for civil liberties (Image: Getty)
The bank accounts of pensioners and landlords will be at risk of “snooping” if the Government secures “Orwellian” powers, former Brexit Secretary Sir David Davis has warned.
Sir David – one of Parliament’s highest profile campaigners for civil liberties – claims that a proposed new law would “erode financial privacy like never before in our country”.
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He is concerned that measures intended to combat fraud and avoid errors could be abused by future governments. The proposals would allow banks to look out for warning signs and then pass on information to the Department for Work and Pensions.
Sir David agreed there is a “big fraud issue” but cautioned that new powers would “force banks to monitor over 20 million accounts”.
He said: “Under the proposals, everyone in receipt of money from the Government’s Department for Work and Pensions will be of special interest, including the 10 million Brits who receive the state pension. The idea that pensioners should be caught up in the net of this giant financial fishing exercise is completely absurd.”
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Sir David is also concerned that “landlords of those in receipt of housing benefit will have their bank accounts considered fair game for state-backed snooping”.
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Warning of how this could worsen housing problems, he said: “Many will not like that prospect and the result may be that tenants find it much more difficult to rent in an already difficult market. When Britain is suffering from a housing crisis, these are intolerable risks.”
He claims the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill , which was debated in the Lords last week, has been “rushed through Parliament without proper scrutiny”. He suggested the lack of attention is how ministers "managed to smuggle Orwellian new powers into the Bill".
The veteran Brexiteer fears the surveillance powers will undermine the presumption of innocence and could be dangerously abused.
“I wince at the thought of how future governments might use these powers to secretly scour our bank accounts,” he said, adding: “Short of tracking our every movement, there could be no more invasive way for the state to monitor us than keeping tabs on our spending habits.”
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A Government spokeswoman said: “These changes do not allow direct access to any bank accounts. Instead, third parties will be required to share data with us only when it signals potential fraud or error, and DWP will not be able to see how claimants or pensioners spend their money.
“We have a duty to treat taxpayers’ money responsibly – which is why we are cracking down on fraud. This is backed up by our ￡900million Fraud Plan, which will bolster our counter-fraud operations and root out those who steal from the most vulnerable.”
It is hoped the new arrangements will prevent “wrongful overpayments” such as when a pensioner who has moved to a country where the state pension is frozen. The Government anticipates the department would be able to step in and prevent the pensioner having to make large repayments.
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