Friday, August 28, 2020
Digital design flaw could penalise EU citizens
According to the Independent, a large group of UK residents could become "guinea pigs in a digital-only experiment". They say that EU citizens have launched a campaign for the government to give them physical proof of their right to remain in Britain after Brexit – amid fears that they could be locked out of homes, jobs and healthcare by technical problems.
Apparently, the Brexit settlement scheme's "digital-only" design is already causing problems for EU nationals, some of whom are already being held up in airports and facing delays in moving house. But campaigners worry that the scheme's flaws could have even more serious consequences, denying EU citizens living in Britain their rights to homes, jobs, and healthcare – all of which require them to prove their right to live in the UK:
Under the scheme, EU nationals are not given an ID card or other document as proof of residence once they are accepted, but have to rely on an online system. They say that if the system were ever to go down or suffer from technical glitches, they would be unable to do simple things such as open a bank account, take a job, or return home after a holiday.
The "Access Denied" campaign, launched by EU citizens' campaign group the3million, is calling for the government to give EU citizens physical documentation to avoid problems. They say provisions could be made for the modified system in the forthcoming immigration bill set to go through parliament later this year.
The government digital service's own assessment of the policy concluded that there was “very strong evidence” that digital-only proof would cause “a lot of issues”, but ministers pressed ahead with the plan for a digital-only approach anyway.
The Home Office now says the government will be eventually shifting all migrants towards digital-only documentation and a spokesperson noted that physical proof can be lost or expire – though campaigners are calling for cards in addition to their digital proof.
Speaking at a virtually rally to launch the campaign on Thursday evening, one EU national, named Paula Uusnäkki, told attendees that she had already effectively disappeared from the system after having been granted pre-settled status.
"I logged onto the system and there was nothing there. They had absolutely no record of me every applying, so I had to do the whole process again from the beginning," she said.
"I have settled status now, hopefully it's still online, but you never know... if I'd had to officially prove my status that first time I wouldn't have been able to do that, because there was absolutely no record of me on the system.
"But if I'd had a card, for example, I could have taken it out of my wallet, shown it, and be on my way. Technology breaks, it fails, but a physical proof of identity is always in your wallet. We need to to avoid situations like what I had."
I have commented before on government's reliance on barely-understood technology to solve problems for them. Things inevitably go wrong, and there is always a human cost. In this case, ministers owe it to the EU citizens who keep our public services and economy going to build some safeguards into the system.
It is time they listened to the people who are affected by their decisions, rather than out-of-touch 'experts' with their own agenda.
Apparently, the Brexit settlement scheme's "digital-only" design is already causing problems for EU nationals, some of whom are already being held up in airports and facing delays in moving house. But campaigners worry that the scheme's flaws could have even more serious consequences, denying EU citizens living in Britain their rights to homes, jobs, and healthcare – all of which require them to prove their right to live in the UK:
Under the scheme, EU nationals are not given an ID card or other document as proof of residence once they are accepted, but have to rely on an online system. They say that if the system were ever to go down or suffer from technical glitches, they would be unable to do simple things such as open a bank account, take a job, or return home after a holiday.
The "Access Denied" campaign, launched by EU citizens' campaign group the3million, is calling for the government to give EU citizens physical documentation to avoid problems. They say provisions could be made for the modified system in the forthcoming immigration bill set to go through parliament later this year.
The government digital service's own assessment of the policy concluded that there was “very strong evidence” that digital-only proof would cause “a lot of issues”, but ministers pressed ahead with the plan for a digital-only approach anyway.
The Home Office now says the government will be eventually shifting all migrants towards digital-only documentation and a spokesperson noted that physical proof can be lost or expire – though campaigners are calling for cards in addition to their digital proof.
Speaking at a virtually rally to launch the campaign on Thursday evening, one EU national, named Paula Uusnäkki, told attendees that she had already effectively disappeared from the system after having been granted pre-settled status.
"I logged onto the system and there was nothing there. They had absolutely no record of me every applying, so I had to do the whole process again from the beginning," she said.
"I have settled status now, hopefully it's still online, but you never know... if I'd had to officially prove my status that first time I wouldn't have been able to do that, because there was absolutely no record of me on the system.
"But if I'd had a card, for example, I could have taken it out of my wallet, shown it, and be on my way. Technology breaks, it fails, but a physical proof of identity is always in your wallet. We need to to avoid situations like what I had."
I have commented before on government's reliance on barely-understood technology to solve problems for them. Things inevitably go wrong, and there is always a human cost. In this case, ministers owe it to the EU citizens who keep our public services and economy going to build some safeguards into the system.
It is time they listened to the people who are affected by their decisions, rather than out-of-touch 'experts' with their own agenda.
Comments:
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Yes. Physical proof is needed.
'Flaws'can be on purpose or by mistake etc.
Algorythms,digital stuff is only as good as the info the person is typing in.Press the wrong button it disappears and you do not then exist.They can be manipulated.It can also be a way of control.
If we are all digitised we just become a number not an individual.
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'Flaws'can be on purpose or by mistake etc.
Algorythms,digital stuff is only as good as the info the person is typing in.Press the wrong button it disappears and you do not then exist.They can be manipulated.It can also be a way of control.
If we are all digitised we just become a number not an individual.
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