The British Home Office has mishandled the data of over 76,000 immigrants, leading to errors such as incorrect names and mixed-up photos. As a result of these errors, affected individuals are unable to apply for jobs, access housing, or receive treatment from the National Health Service, according to leaked documents reported by The Guardian.
It has been revealed that identities have been merged in the Home Office system, linking the biographical and biometric data of multiple individuals. The errors have affected immigrants who have no association with each other, as reported by The Guardian after speaking with some of those impacted. For example, a man from Nicaragua had to contact the Home Office over a hundred times to prove his work permit to his employers, while another refugee saw someone else's photo ID when logging into her account.
While the Home Office has admitted to past "IT issues," little has been disclosed about the extent of the problems. Home Secretary Tom Pursglove previously stated to parliament that there were no systemic problems with Atlas, the tool used by immigration officials on the faulty database. However, leaked documents have revealed the number of people affected by the errors and the Home Office's efforts to address the long-standing issues.
Internal documents indicate that the ministry has introduced a tool to identify potential merged identities, uncovering over 38,000 problems affecting at least two individuals each. A Home Office spokesperson noted that the issues impacted an estimated 0.02 percent of individuals in the database.
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