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The British Home Office has mishandled the data of over 76,000 immigrants, leading to errors such as incorrect names and mixed-up photos. As a result of these mistakes, affected individuals are unable to apply for jobs, access housing, or receive treatment from the National Health Service, according to The Guardian.
The identity merging in the Home Office system has caused biographical and biometric data to be incorrectly linked to multiple individuals who have no relation to each other. Some immigrants have reported difficulties in proving their work permits to employers or seeing unfamiliar photo IDs when accessing their accounts.
While the Home Office has acknowledged previous IT issues, it has not disclosed the full extent of the problems. Internal documents reveal the ministry's efforts to address the errors, including the development of a tool to detect potential merged identities. Over 38,000 issues affecting at least two individuals each have been identified so far, representing a small percentage of the overall database.
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