Author-Lisa O’Carroll
The government has been taken to court over its decision to deny European citizens the right to access data the Home Office holds on individuals in immigration cases.
In a high court judicial review, campaigners for EU citizens allege that a clause in the Data Protection Act 2018 unlawfully excludes them from rights they would otherwise hold to access private data held by third parties.
It emerged during the hearing that 60% of the requests for disclosure of data held by the government have been denied since the beginning of 2019 using these powers, leaving migrant workers and others unable to appeal Home Office decisions.
Law firm Leigh Day, acting for the activist group the3million and the Open Rights Group, which brought the case, said the exemption affects 3.6 million EU citizens living in the UK who will have to apply for new immigration status after Brexit.
