The UK Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) faced legal action to reveal details of an 'unfair' 'General Matching Service' algorithm it used to identify benefit fraud.

The Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People (GMCDP) demanded the DWP reveal how it uses 'AI, algorithmic technology and other forms of automation' when investigating benefit fraud, specifically details of a data matching algorithm that the department is known to use.

The GMCDP alleged that disabled people were being unfairly targeted, are subject to 'essential' cash cuts and are given little or no information about why they are being investigated. 

The legal letter was the second sent by the GMCDP on the subject. The first was issued in December 2021.

Timeline ⏰

• 2019. UN Special Rapporteur warns of a "digital welfare state" in the UK that could automate inequality.

• February 2021. Privacy International accuses the DWP of using 'excessive surveillance techniques' to investigate possible benefit fraudsters.

• November 2021. Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People (GMCDP) and Foxglove send a legal letter to DWP demanding transparency on its benefit fraud algorithm.

• July 2022. Public Law Project confirms DWP is using machine learning for Universal Credit fraud detection.

• Jan 2024. DWP officials admit to Parliament that the systems "do have biases in."

• June 2024. Investigations reveal the housing benefit algorithm wrongly flagged 200,000 people over three years.

• Dec 2024. FOI documents reveal internal DWP assessments found bias based on disability, age, and nationality.

• May 2025. Foxglove announced it would not proceed with the lawsuit as the DWP algorithm, to the best of its knowledge, "is not making decisions that result in disabled people being unfairly targeted for benefit fraud investigations."

Legal, regulatory 👩🏼‍⚖️

• Foxglove (2021). Secret algorithm targets disabled people unfairly for benefit probes – cutting off life-saving cash and trapping them in call centre hell

• Foxglove (2021). Help us fight the DWP’s secret benefits algorithm

Research, advocacy 🧮

• Privacy International. Shedding light on the DWP Part 1 - We read the UK welfare agency’s 995-page guide on conducting surveillance and here are the scariest bits

• Privacy International. Shedding light on the DWP Part 2 - A Long Day's Journey Towards Transparency

News, commentary, analysis 🗞️

• https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/nov/21/dwp-urged-to-reveal-algorithm-that-targets-disabled-for-benefit

• https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/practice-points/algorithmic-transparency-is-not-a-game/5114772.article

• https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/dwp-bosses-quizzed-by-mps-over-secret-benefit-fraud-algorithm/

• https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/legal-letter-asks-dwp-for-information-on-discriminatory-secret-algorithm/

• https://www.theoldhamtimes.co.uk/news/19761688.disabled-forced-gruelling-invasive-hamster-wheel-benefits-appeals-dwp/

• https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/disabled-people-being-forced-gruelling-22349188

• https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/ai-decoded/unescos-ai-ethics-framework-some-eu-countries-want-ai-bans-for-tech-companies-uk-benefits-algorithm-under-fire-2/

• https://www.messengernewspapers.co.uk/news/19766853.disabled-forced-onto-hamster-wheel-benefits-appeals-dwp/

• https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3g9n5/how-the-government-spies-on-welfare-claimants

• https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/dwp-faces-legal-action-reveal-26199571

• https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/dwp-faces-legal-action-disclose-23062282

• https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/feb/14/dwp-excessive-surveillance-on-suspected-fraudsters-privacy-international