back to article Windrush immigration papers scandal is a big fat GDPR fail for UK.gov

It's probably a given that – with the European Union's GDPR now weeks away – you're sick to the back teeth of hearing, reading and talking about data protection. And then comes the Windrush scandal in which the UK government apparently destroyed the landing records for thousands of citizens from Caribbean nations who arrived …

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    1. Bernard M. Orwell
      Facepalm

      "you'd have formalised that arrangement with an indefinite visa or a British passport and/or kept hold of the evidence of when you arrived"

      Or, you know, we could assume they are in the right and take a look at other records to determine the validity of that. Records like NI contributions, educational history, health records, electoral role, tax payments...

      But no, far better to assume that they are illegal and ignore all other evidence to the contrary. Typical of May and Cronies.

    2. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      are we saying that an entire generation of immigrants…weren't issued with any paperwork at all?

      Yes, that's exactly what we are saying. And the only paperwork that could be used to demonstrate their status was disposed of in what can only really be called an act of criminal negligence.

    3. tiggity Silver badge

      @Ben1892 I'm without any original docs (from birth cert through to exam results, the all got destroyed in a building fire)

      So original docs can be lst.o

      I'm OK as I was born here - so could get copy of birth cert if needed, but I would be screwed if I was a Windrush person (or if I was offsppring of windrush legal who had no papers). Never assume legal docs will not be lost / destroyed by someting beyond someones control

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Unhappy

        You're certainly not OK

        I'm OK as I was born here - so could get copy of birth cert if needed, but I would be screwed if I was a Windrush person (or if I was offsppring of windrush legal who had no papers).

        Except that just being born in the UK doesn't automatically make you British. e.g. If you were born in the UK between 1 January 1983 and 1 July 2006 then you can only be British if at least one parent was British and living in the UK. If your mother wasn't British but your father was, then this only works if he was married to your mother. https://www.gov.uk/types-of-british-nationality/british-citizenship

        So, you will have to obtain your birth certificate and a parent's birth certificate and possibly your parent's marriage certificate. And then prove that they all refer to the same people - i.e. your father listed on your birth certificate is the same person that "his" birth certificate describes. And prove that you are the person that "your" birth certificate refers to. Good luck with all that, especially if your parents are dead, or even used different names at different points in their lives (which is surprisingly common). It is what the person verbally says their name is to the registrar when recording a birth that goes on the form.

        Hope your not needing to use your car, any medical treatment, a bank account, any rental accommodation or a job. You may have been born here, and never left the country, but that knock you just heard on the door was the immigration service coming to take you away.

        1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

          Re: You're certainly not OK

          If you were born in the UK between 1 January 1983 and 1 July 2006 then you can only be British if at least one parent was British and living in the UK.

          Incorrect. Children of parents with permanent leave to remain from that period are also British citizens.

          So, you will have to obtain your birth certificate and a parent's birth certificate and possibly your parent's marriage certificate.

          One of the reasons why the paperwork for permanent leave to remain is still sitting in our house fire safe nearly two decades after the event. It is also paperwork which I KNOW the Home Office has destroyed. They were fully aware of the consequences as in its absence all children birth certificates as well as certificates of naturalization issued after that can be deemed invalid. "Creating Hostile Environment" for ILLEGAL ALL immigrants.

  1. Teiwaz

    How is it?

    That the government always manages come to utterly the wrong conclusion on data retention.

    If it's required, throw it away, as in the Windrush case, if it can be at all argued that it's retention is a human rights abuse, keep it and fight tooth and nail with whatever lame excuse comes to mind to keep it, as in the case of the police custody shots.

    I am reminded of the remonstration Lois gives to Peter in a Family Guy episode about 'if his brain tells him to do something, not to do it, while if his brain tells him not to do something, it's probably the right thing to do.'

    1. Aladdin Sane

      Re: How is it?

      Because when they do it right, it isn't news.

      1. hplasm
        Meh

        Re: How is it?

        "Because when they do it right, it isn't news."

        It is news. And a bloody miracle.

      2. Teiwaz

        Re: How is it?

        Re: How is it?

        Because when they do it right, it isn't news.

        It also doesn't needlessly stress up whole portions of the populous and make the UK look like a shoddy badly run country with delusions of not merely adequacy but thinks it's actually competent.

        The Uk maybe, recent governments, far from it.

      3. Dr_N

        Re: How is it?

        >Because when they do it right, it isn't news.

        Citation they've ever done it right, or I call FAKE NEWS!

  2. Slx

    You could also argue that they failed to keep accurate data that was relevant to these people's cases and then not only that, but made false and extremely damaging allegations that they were illegitimately and illegally in the UK, based on inaccurate data and then gave them no reasonable opportunity to correct this.

    All of that looks like data protection breeches and mismanagement of data.

    Not only that but they falsely accuatons have resulted in significant material and reputational damage.

    I sincerely hope that there are plenty of very expensive law suits. They turned people's lives upside down for no reason whatsoever.

    There may even be people who were actually deported because of this who may have no means to get back and may be in bad circumstances. Many are elderly, maybe unwell or disabled. Just when they should have been selling info to a long and happy retirement they were sent threatening letters and all sorts of crazy nonsense kicked off.

    I wish them every luck in any legal actions that they take!

    1. Jedit Silver badge

      "they failed to keep accurate data that was relevant to these people's cases"

      When the data was thrown out, it wasn't relevant; these people had undisputed indefinite right to remain. It only became relevant when May decided it was now relevant - after knowingly overseeing its destruction.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "they failed to keep accurate data that was relevant to these people's cases"

        Indeed, this is what makes me really cross.

        The default position now simply being, "the computer says no" while paper records are destroyed. Coupled with the computer enhanced position of "absence of evidence is now evidence of absence" it will be forever impossible for people with partial documentation or documents "not on the approved list" to ever get through the process.

        Immigration status will often not be checked, or even asked about for decades after people arrive, especially if they arrive as a child and it doesn't come up until an employer checks.

        The home office also take every opportunity to charge people fees for doing their own job, while losing files and documentation in "Archives" and starting the whole process again. This then creates its own inefficiency and effort for the home office, while also preventing people from getting a job and paying tax.

        If the threshold is now computer generated, I would expect it to be almost impossible to work effectively for another 20-30 years as data required now simply does not exist.

    2. TrumpSlurp the Troll
      Trollface

      Ah, data protection breeches.

      I have a pair in a fetching silver grey.

      They protect my citizenship information which is tattooed on my penis. Including my place of birth in, let me check....ah,yes; Ludo. Although I though the name was longer.......

  3. Frederic Bloggs

    Safekeeping

    GDPR isn't just about disposal, it's also about keeping personal data safe and secure. IIRC this applies under the current regulations as well.

    It seems to me that HMG has comprehensively failed in its duty of care to do the "safe" part.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Safekeeping

      I think there was a reasonable expectation by the owners of this data that it would be kept. The Home Office was obviously aware that it was still being used. The DPA requires that data is processed fairly and I would suggest that destroying this data does not amount to fair processing.

      I believe this destruction was a contrary to the DPA. If this is the case the Civil Servants who made the decision to destroy these landing cards may have committed the criminal offence of "Misconduct In Public Office".

  4. Flak

    History will be history!

    These types of records are historical records as well as clearly having a vital purpose to validate someone's legitimacy to reside in the UK.

    Genealogical research relies on (permanently) kept historical records. A balance needs to be struck between data protection and historical record keeping. For some records there should be a time embargo, but we have the means to keep those records and digitise them to make storage, search and retrieval much easier.

    1. David Harper 1

      Re: History will be history!

      Indeed. The government retains census records going back to 1841, and makes them publicly (and now digitally) available once they are more than 100 years old. What were once records collected to allow government to monitor the population are now a priceless resource for historians and genealogists.

      1. Roland6 Silver badge

        Re: History will be history!

        Are we sure BMD records don't fall foul of GDPR or what some nutter may misinterpret GDPR to mean - public line: look we have to shred all these records because of GDPR, political line: look if we shred all these records we can save a barrowload of money which we can then spend on useful things like duck houses...

        Which reminds me, shredded paper makes good animal bedding, so we can sell the paper to the highest bidder!

  5. colinb

    Fail on many levels

    Apart from the Operational need there is a historic element to this.

    You can search more than 51 million passenger records for Ellis Island today. https://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/passenger.

    They would have been paper and ledgers, now all digitised. A fantastic resource for people tracing their family tree.

    Future generations will rue the loss of such a resource.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Your papers please

    "Could it be said that the Windrush data was no longer "needed"? In hindsight, no"

    The old aphorism "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence," applies here. Where the person in the Home Office made a big mistake was, having ordered the destruction of the documentation, they then claimed that people didn't have the documentation to prove they landed legally. Of course they didn't have the documentation, YOU THREW IT AWAY, DUMMY!

    Throwing away the documentation as unnecessary, then claiming it was necessary to justify residence is self contracting. It shows either incompetence or malice. Which gets me to my second point.

    "The Home Office" didn't make and carry out this policy, individuals did, a mix of politicians and civil servants. The claim that "I was just obeying orders" doesn't stand up. They took the money and probably were promoted for a job well done. Now the truth is out, they should bear responsibility for their actions. If you get an order in your job that you think is wrong, get another job. I expect they will hide behind the shield of anonymity as usual.

    1. Boris the Cockroach Silver badge
      FAIL

      Re: Your papers please

      Quote

      I expect they will hide behind the shield of anonymity as usual.

      Or if they are found out, they'll be retired on a full pension and golden handshake like every other senior official found out to be an utter wanker

      (unless they were a junior level clerk on min wage in which case they'll be imprisoned for the next 25 yrs)

      Me? cynical? never!

  7. Androgynous Cupboard Silver badge

    Glad you've covered this

    I've been in Britain 25 years (with a passport to match, thanks very much) and I can't think of a government action during that time that has disgusted me more than this. And I've had quite a few to choose from too.

    Even Iraq had a whiff of inevitability about it, but this is just a "find any excuse to throw people out of the country" situation. Born here?. Too fucking bad, your papers are not in order and we're stripping you of your healthcare, job, assets and deporting you. It's not incompetence, it's insanity stemming from a sheer fucking panic that we are somehow being overrun by migrants, like some sort of plague of human locusts. And that is simply not the case.

    Anyone with a moral compass should feel very, very ashamed to be involved in this.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Glad you've covered this

      I've a couple of mates who work at the UK Border Agency and they are totally disgusted with this whole sorry story and morale is extremely low over this and the impending brexit border shit-storm.

    2. andy gibson

      Re: Glad you've covered this

      IIRC the Shane Ridge situation you refer to was quickly resolved the next day.

      https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/aug/30/home-office-apologises-for-wrongly-telling-british-man-shane-ridge-leave-uk

      1. Martin
        FAIL

        Re: Glad you've covered this

        the Shane Ridge situation you refer to was quickly resolved the next day...

        No - it was resolved the next day after the papers got hold of it. He'd presumably spent several days before that in a major panic.

        But hey, the Home Office apologised, so that's all right then.

  8. NeverMindTheBullocks

    Not Vital Interests.

    "As for actual data processing, Article 6 provides for the lawful processing of data where "processing is necessary in order to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person"."

    On a technical note re. the article Article 6, Para(1(c)) does set out the use of Vital Interests however this needs to be read in conjunction with the relevant recital, in this case Recital 46.

    https://gdpr-info.eu/art-6-gdpr/

    https://gdpr-info.eu/recitals/no-46/

    This clarifies that Vital Interests should only be used where no other Legitimate Basis can be relied on and processing " is necessary to protect an interest which is essential for the life of the data subject or that of another natural person" such as "humanitarian purposes, including for monitoring epidemics and their spread or in situations of humanitarian emergencies, in particular in situations of natural and man-made disasters."

    The intent for Vital Interests is that it should only be used in life saving situations where no other form of consent or other basis is available. In this case that would be difficult to prove.

    Article 5(e) is the applicable reference here as you point out.

    https://gdpr-info.eu/art-5-gdpr/

    "Kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed; "

    It also includes archiving in the public interest, scientific, historical or statistical research.

    Since the purposes for which is was collected was to prove legitimate and lawful arrival in the UK for the data subjects an their dependants then keeping records for 75 Years or longer would be perfectly reasonable.

  9. Dr_N

    Dry Run

    This incident is a cautionary tale for all EUers who are planning to stay living in the UK after Brexit.

    Just remember you too (and your family members) can be made "illegal" at any time in the future at the whim of this or future uk.govs.

    Forewarned is forearmed.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Dry Run

      OMG!! All these poor EUers are going to be in the same situation as Americans, Australians, Chinese, Koreans,Mexicans, in fact "almost everyone". Well, thanks for forewarning us.

      1. Dr_N
        Thumb Up

        Re: Dry Run

        Exactly. uk.gov keeps saying that everything will be okay and no rights are being deleted. So no need to worry! (And UK embassy staff are also issuing similar platitudes to UKers resident in the EU.)

        Which is all clearly bobbins as the Windrush story now illustrates.

        (It's sometimes difficult to understand and empathise when you're not affected, I know ....)

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Dry Run

          (It's sometimes difficult to understand and empathise when you're not affected, I know ....)

          Really? Patronising, aren't you. As it happens I am potentially affected.

          1. This post has been deleted by its author

      2. David Nash Silver badge

        Re: Dry Run

        "All these poor EUers are going to be in the same situation as Americans, Australians, Chinese, Koreans,Mexicans, in fact "almost everyone""

        Not at all.

        EU citizens don't need a visa to be in the UK. Those other groups will have visas describing what they are allowed to do. EU citizens, many of whom have made the UK their home for decades, lived, worked, paid taxes, raised children here, could suddenly be made illegal if the Gov pulls a similar stunt. In fact in the case of EU-ers there are not even any landing cards to be destroyed, so it would be easier.

  10. not.known@this.address
    Holmes

    Won't someone think of the children... doing Family Trees!

    Even if central government couldn't find a use for these papers, they could have been scanned by the people at Kew and kept for those interested in researching their family history.

    But then the people in power at the time who ordered the records destroyed wouldn't have a sh***y stick to beat the current government with - funny how the Opposition can't remember who gave the orders and keep blaming everybody else (as usual)... if I was inclined to be cynical, I might suspect it was deliberate...

    1. Allan George Dyer
      Facepalm

      Did someone mention trees? Re: Won't someone think of the children... doing Family Trees!

      @not.known@this.address - "scanned by the people at Kew and kept"

      And the Botanic Gardens later produces an exquisitely detailed study of 'Tree species used in British Government papers in the 20th Century'. "But you didn't say the writing was important".

  11. Joe Harrison

    When I was a kid

    When I was a kid nobody had a passport because nobody had ever been abroad except the ones who got sent there with a rifle and were lucky enough to come back again. When I got a Visitors Passport for a school trip to France everyone crowded round to see what one looked like.

    I doubt if any of my family could have *proven* they had the right to be there to the standard now being asked.

    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Re: When I was a kid

      I doubt if any of my family could have *proven* they had the right to be there to the standard now being asked.

      They probably could - it's a very simple paper based test.

      If your skin is the same colour as a piece of paper you are ok

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    This is a useful reminder to those who are buying British resident / citizen status to make sure they get a signed & dated receipt for their $1 / $5 million.

    1. Roland6 Silver badge

      Just need to make sure the receipt isn't your typical thermal printed till roll receipt; these tend to only last 1~3 years hidden in the expenses folder...

      Plus do you really expect the HO to maintain copies of receipts for more than 7 years? :)

  13. J.G.Harston Silver badge

    If the Home Office decided they no longer needed/wanted this stuff, they should have passed it to the National Archives, not destroyed them. We've already suffered from the 1931 census being accidently lost in a fire, there's no justification to compound things like that by *deliberately* destroying stuff.

  14. tip pc Silver badge

    Obviously an election is approaching

    Lots of anti Tory sentiment above, obviously due to the upcoming election and Labour supporters trying to influence votes.

    I’d rather politics stayed off this site, it’s a good refuge for us to avoid that crap.

    1. H in The Hague

      Re: Obviously an election is approaching

      "Lots of anti Tory sentiment above, obviously due to the upcoming election and Labour supporters trying to influence votes."

      Not necessarily. Given my bank balance, postcode and own business I should be an obvious Tory voter but that doesn't stop me criticising them, which most certainly doesn't make me a Labour supporter (esp. not with Corbyn in charge). The current torrent of criticism of May and Rudd is entirely self-infliced and due to a combination of incompetence and malice - not much to do with politics.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Obviously an election is approaching

        Not necessarily. Given my bank balance, postcode and own business I should be an obvious Tory voter

        Same here.

        The current torrent of criticism of May and Rudd

        I do not need to be a Labour supporter to start choking when I hear verbatim quotes from Stalin and Hitler speeches at a Tory party conference. One has killed one quarter of my family tree, the other one the other.

        They are really verbatim quotes by the way. Rudd was verbatim quoting out of the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, May was verbatim quoting out of Stalin's speech in the Kremlin on the 24th of May 1945 which signified the beginning of the second stage of his campaign against the Jews as well as the follow-up speeches by Stalin and Zhdanov. I do not think you can go any more racist than these golden standards.

    2. David Nash Silver badge

      Re: Obviously an election is approaching

      "Lots of anti Tory sentiment above, obviously due to the upcoming election and Labour supporters trying to influence votes."

      It's actually just anti-whoever was responsible for the current debacle, which usually happens to be those in power, ie. in this case the Tories.

  15. Eclectic Man Silver badge

    DPA Principle 7

    states that you as a data controller are required to protect personal information from accidental or unlawful destruction. I humbly suggest that the destruction of the landing cards of the 'Windrush' generation was in breach of principle 7 of the DPA, and therefore unlawful.

    (Apologies if I m repeating an earlier post, but I've not actually managed to read them all yet.)

    I should probably admit that one of my parents was a refuge from NAZI Germany, so I'm possibly a bit biased when it comes to protecting immigrants' right.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Judging by all the unlawful decisions Queen Theresa has made over the years

    She doesn't think the law applies to her...

  17. This post has been deleted by its author

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Bottom line is forget GDPR etc.....these were important national/historical/social records that merit long term storage (a legitimate case for retention as allowed under GDPR...?) - think Ellis Island records for US immigration for our American Cousins, Parish records, Census data from prior centuary(ies) or even the Doomsday Book for goodness sake! Send to national archives, Somerset House or anywhere for long term retention just don't be dumb and destroy such unique & irreplaceable information. No one should have been in a position to authorise destruction - not even a Labour Home Sec or official under their control (contrary to article decision taken when Labour in power in '09 not Her Mayness - even if action actually taken post transition), blame for this should be shared not used to point to one side or the other, rather everyone needs to learn. Attitudes like this destruction point to next Dark Ages (but in this case without the nuclear winter?!)...

    ....oh, and don't rely on school records either! Am British born and bred and with long lineage (& Passport!) but in their position I may have problem. Found out last night that old school went through several transitions/name changes after I left and eventually merged with another local school and relocated to joint new site.....old school demolished some years ago and now no records available! :-( Sad....

  19. PaulVD
    Facepalm

    Shredded?

    "their dog stumbles across the shredded Windrush documents blowing around in a skip somewhere."

    What makes the author think they were shredded rather than just dumped? It would be consistent with the rest of the sorry mess if they were just dumped in the skips with the other construction rubble.

  20. RancidRodent

    If an English person was invited to and emigrated to the West Indies, they then didn't bother to do any of the required paperwork including applying for citizenship - when the authorities kick them out 30 years later - would there be any sympathy? We'd be asking the obvious question:- "why didn't you do what was required of you?" - the other way round we bow and apologise when the fault actually lays with the people who couldn't be "arksed" to fill out the paperwork and follow the rules.

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