After a consultation held in 2021 to which Privacy International responded, the government has now decided not to expand the powers of its "National Fraud Initiative". However, recent changes in the UK welfare landscape point to troubling plans for the future.

The global Covid-19 pandemic has acted as a catalyst for technology-intensive initiatives for welfare distribution, coming at a high cost to human rights and inclusion: enforcing automated discrimination, exacerbating existing inequalities and compromising access to essential benefits.