Salford Council and a 'secretive' algorithm used to assess welfare claimants

Documents obtained under Freedom of Information reveal new information about opaque software deployed by local authorities

Dear members — today’s story is about how councils are using a controversial algorithm to assess benefit claimants. Jacklin Kwan has been examining the Freedom of Information requests behind a scathing report released today by the campaign group Big Brother Watch, which describes such algorithms as “secretive, unevidenced, incredibly invasive and likely discriminatory”.

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