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Legal, pensions and money

DWP Proposing To Scrutinize Bank Accounts?

(235 Posts)
Margs Sat 02-Dec-23 09:55:56

The Daily Record and Liverpool Echo, amongst other sources, very recently noted that the DWP will attempt to obtain powers to delve into the bank accounts of UC claimants, on the premise of cracking down on benefit fraud.
And now, as rumours would have it, State Pension recipients may come under the same regime of scrutiny.
Why?
The State Pension is so far below the average weekly wage that it's almost an insult. Certainly for women.
And I can just about imagine the DWP mandating that the supermarkets hand over data on a customers spending whenever they use a loyalty card.......just to make sure that we're not fecklessly "living it up" on too generous pensions.
Ha!

M0nica Mon 08-Jan-24 13:50:42

I agree with GSM The new rules will only be a very extension to ritghts the government already have.

Bear on mind if you are really of such interest to the government that they want to do a thorough scan of how you have spent your money over years, it is probably MI5 or MI6 that will be handling your case and they will have a huge file on you with much more information about everything you do, where you go and who you associate with, and probably have details 20 years of your bank expenditutre on file already.

Look over your soldier, see that innocent youth in a hoodie on a scooter, he could be shadowing you, monitoring your cash expenditure. Was that a Lottery ticket you bought? Where was that letter being posted to? Why did you return those trousers to next. Be afraid, very afraid.

M0nica Mon 08-Jan-24 13:51:05

shoulder, not soldier

DaisyAnneReturns Mon 08-Jan-24 16:06:43

Germanshepherdsmum

I really don’t understand some scenarios presented - such as being able to see if you belong to a political party or where you shop. How much time do think civil servants have to trawl through accounts? They will be looking for undeclared income and assets.

It won't need civil servants to trawl Germanshepherdsmum. It's 2024; they use computers.

Germanshepherdsmum Mon 08-Jan-24 16:29:27

Still have to look at results though.

Cabbie21 Mon 08-Jan-24 17:28:33

AI will do that.
Post Office staff know only too well how that works.

DaisyAnneReturns Mon 08-Jan-24 20:04:59

Germanshepherdsmum

Still have to look at results though.

I doubt it. From what I gather currently they will accuse - or turn people down - first and then let tribunals do the rest. Of course there are people who cannot deal with the gaslighting so just drop out.

They will use the computers conclusion and, rather like the sub-postmasters, the recipients will then have to prove their innocence.

Like the scorpion that is the nature of this government. They are vicious people who cannot resist hurting others even when it is not in their own interests.

Germanshepherdsmum Mon 08-Jan-24 21:46:33

We are talking about civil servants - they work in government departments but are not ‘this government’.

Doodledog Mon 08-Jan-24 21:51:09

M0nica

I agree with GSM The new rules will only be a very extension to ritghts the government already have.

Bear on mind if you are really of such interest to the government that they want to do a thorough scan of how you have spent your money over years, it is probably MI5 or MI6 that will be handling your case and they will have a huge file on you with much more information about everything you do, where you go and who you associate with, and probably have details 20 years of your bank expenditutre on file already.

Look over your soldier, see that innocent youth in a hoodie on a scooter, he could be shadowing you, monitoring your cash expenditure. Was that a Lottery ticket you bought? Where was that letter being posted to? Why did you return those trousers to next. Be afraid, very afraid.

There is no need for sarcasm.

As I said, I am not paranoid about these things, and am not particularly careful to 'hide' anything, as I don't do anything remotely illegal. My point is that what is legal now may not be in ten years, and whilst MI5 can't possibly have huge files on everyone, if junior civil servants can use AI to scrutinise accounts they could easily find all sorts of things that would categorise people who could be targeted.

I've posted before about a time when I took part in market research for Tesco. A group of people were invited to a local hotel and paid £50 for an hour or so answering questions about our experiences of shopping online. The other women there were uncannily like me. They were the same age, lived in similar houses, had similar occupations, the same aged children and so on. We even dressed alike. We had been gathered together based simply on what we bought in one supermarket. I was amused rather than unsettled, but could opt out of having a Tesco card at any time.

The point is that we just don't know who might be targeted and why if a future government wants to do so. We do know that this government operates by turning different demographics against one another. What is to say that a future government won't target lefty feminists or tory voting Daily Mail readers? Or any other group that doesn't fit their idea of 'good citizens'?

First they came for the communists.

Germanshepherdsmum Mon 08-Jan-24 21:56:08

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

DaisyAnneReturns Mon 08-Jan-24 22:04:57

DaisyAnneReturns

Germanshepherdsmum

Still have to look at results though.

I doubt it. From what I gather currently they will accuse - or turn people down - first and then let tribunals do the rest. Of course there are people who cannot deal with the gaslighting so just drop out.

They will use the computers conclusion and, rather like the sub-postmasters, the recipients will then have to prove their innocence.

Like the scorpion that is the nature of this government. They are vicious people who cannot resist hurting others even when it is not in their own interests.

"This government" makes the rules, cuts their budget and their numbers, Those working in the DWP are already "obeying orders. I see no reason why this would change.

DaisyAnneReturns Mon 08-Jan-24 22:11:47

Yay Doodledog, you score extra points! Normally Germanshepherdsmum only tells those who dont agree with her they are talking "nonsense". This must mean you get the cuddly toy grin.

Germanshepherdsmum Mon 08-Jan-24 22:15:14

I rarely tell people that they are talking nonsense. Just occasionally.

Doodledog Mon 08-Jan-24 22:30:43

Well, I don't know how anyone can be so certain that people are 'talking nonsense' about something in the future. It must be nice to be so certain that you are right that you can dismiss others so easily. The rest of us make do with best guesses and possibilities.

I have no idea who or when would target people (why the '', incidentally?) but am saying that it is possible if they can use sophisticated programs to analyse people's spending - where our money goes tells a lot about us.

I don't understand why I score points of any sort though. I agree or disagree with posts, not people. I agree with GSM about some things, but not about others, the same as with everyone else.

Germanshepherdsmum Mon 08-Jan-24 22:41:30

I haven’t said you are talking nonsense Doodledog. Those are DAR’s words.

However this subject isn’t something that worries me. If anyone wants to analyse my spending they’re most welcome.

M0nica Mon 08-Jan-24 23:10:59

*Doodledog, No sarcasm, just a statement of the facts. Whether AI is available or not, at some point in the process humans will interface with the data and decide whether to act on it and with100 million, at least, current accounts with British Banks, not to mention deposit and savings accounts, for any analysis to go beyond one department wanting to know (or allowed to know) anything the number of accounts affected will be very small indeed and, as I said if you are of such interest that your most petty expendture is being tracked, then it will undoubtedly be for security reasons and it will be MI something at GCHQ at Cheltenham doing it.

The last para is slightly flip, but only slightly.

DaisyAnneReturns Tue 09-Jan-24 07:29:15

Germanshepherdsmum

I haven’t said you are talking nonsense Doodledog. Those are DAR’s words.

However this subject isn’t something that worries me. If anyone wants to analyse my spending they’re most welcome.

They are not my words Germanshepherdsmum They are an example, which I hoped was more light-hearted than reporting, what seems to have become your constant need to belittle others.

The light-hearted approach obviously misfired . I will now report myself to save you the trouble.

Doodledog Tue 09-Jan-24 08:01:24

Why does anyone need to report anything? It’s a discussion, and I’m sure we can all speak up for ourselves should we feel it necessary.

I’m not upset by anything anyone has said in this thread. A bit irritated by having genuine concerns dismissed as paranoid and then ridiculed in a ‘flip’ post, maybe, but no more than that.

DaisyAnneReturns Tue 09-Jan-24 08:18:18

I'm just reporting myself Doodledog. After recent experience that seems the wisest step to take.

Doodledog Tue 09-Jan-24 08:30:48

If it makes you feel better, no harm done, but I can’t imagine that HQ will be interested.

DaisyAnneReturns Tue 09-Jan-24 08:53:46

I don't know what a "flip post" means Doodledog.

I"m not that old but I'm beginning to think I am to old for GN.

Germanshepherdsmum Tue 09-Jan-24 09:14:08

DaisyAnneReturns

Yay Doodledog, you score extra points! Normally Germanshepherdsmum only tells those who dont agree with her they are talking "nonsense". This must mean you get the cuddly toy grin.

Your words DAR. I have already said I rarely use them. And I don’t have ‘a constant need to belittle others’. Kindly take that nasty remark back.

Doodledog Tue 09-Jan-24 09:17:06

DaisyAnneReturns

I don't know what a "flip post" means Doodledog.

I"m not that old but I'm beginning to think I am to old for GN.

It's what M0nica called part of her post to me.

Really - this is making something of a mountain out of a molehill. There are differences of opinion over how much it matters that our bank accounts can be scrutinised if we receive benefits or pensions. I am uneasy about it, others are not.

I have no issue with that, but don't like being diagnosed as 'paranoid' or ridiculed with jibes such as 'be afraid, be very afraid' (the part of her post that M0nica described as 'flip'), simply for having a different point of view. I'm not unduly upset, as I say, just irritated, but am perfectly capable of pointing that out. It's a minor disagreement on an important thread, and I for one have no intention of making it into an argument, so will say no more about it.

DaisyAnneReturns Tue 09-Jan-24 14:12:01

Germanshepherdsmum

DaisyAnneReturns

Yay Doodledog, you score extra points! Normally Germanshepherdsmum only tells those who dont agree with her they are talking "nonsense". This must mean you get the cuddly toy grin.

Your words DAR. I have already said I rarely use them. And I don’t have ‘a constant need to belittle others’. Kindly take that nasty remark back.

In quick search the number of posts where you call others posts nonsense quickly added up. It does seem to be your latest version of put-down which is probably why it caught my eye. Prior to that silly, rubbish, etc., seemed to become ones you favoured.

However, suggesting someone is "paranoid" is in a class of its own.

M0nica Tue 09-Jan-24 14:15:20

flip = short form of flippant. It was a flippant para.

Germanshepherdsmum Tue 09-Jan-24 14:39:57

If you have gone to all the trouble of trawling GN for posts where I have said something is nonsense perhaps you would kindly provide links to all of them. Ditto silly and rubbish. I have noticed before that you seem to keep a note of what I and others say, which I find quite disconcerting. It’s rather like having a stalker. I don’t keep a note of your favoured turns of phrase, save to know that when directed towards me they are invariably rude and unpleasant. Such as this latest bone of yours. And I shall not keep the bone in play by responding to you. You said recently that you would no longer address my posts - that didn’t last long, as I knew it wouldn’t.