Exclusive: groups fear government may resurrect Tory plan for mass algorithmic surveillance of bank accounts

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Ministers have been warned not to resurrect Conservative plans to tackle welfare fraud by launching mass algorithmic surveillance of bank accounts.

Disability rights, poverty, pensioner and privacy groups fear the government is poised to deliver a “snooper’s charter” by using automation and possibly artificial intelligence to crack down on benefit cheats and mistakes which cost £10bn a year. They fear it will mean a “huge blow for privacy in the UK”.