UK Home Office Embedded AI in Immigration Tasks, Rights Group Says in Secrecy Warning
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Oct 27
UK Home Office Embedded AI in Immigration Tasks, Rights Group Says in Secrecy Warning
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Oct 27
Summary
Open Rights Group said AI is already woven through UK immigration work, from spotting suspected sham marriages and estimating asylum seekers’ ages to scanning new arrivals’ phones and prioritising cases.
The report says the technology is also used in border surveillance — including live facial recognition, drones and satellites — and in summarising asylum interviews and country guidance used in decisions.
ORG said the rollout has been hidden behind national-security exemptions, with evidence pieced together from limited Home Office disclosures, freedom of information requests and MPs’ questions.
Labour, SNP and Green MPs backed calls for tighter regulation, more transparency and a public register of government AI tools, while warning biased systems could turn vulnerable people into “data points.”
The Home Office said AI only assists trained caseworkers, does not decide claims on its own, and that updated evaluations of the tools’ rollout will be published.