Currently passing its way through parliament, the Public Authorities Bill should have more of us worried, writes Rebecca Vincent in today’s Notebook

Why you should care about the Public Authorities Bill

This week the troubling Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill is making its way to the House of Lords, with Second Reading scheduled for 15 May. In the name of cracking down on welfare fraud, this problematic legislation would effectively mandate banks to trawl through everyone’s bank accounts on the government’s behalf. This represents a gross intrusion of privacy rights that everyone should be concerned by – and even more so for past and present benefits claimants, who could face disproportionately punitive measures if they have been overpaid not only as the result of fraud, but even due to the Department for Work and Pensions’ own error or oversight.

Having defeated similar provisions under the previous government, Big Brother Watch has been leading a large coalition of organisations – including poverty, disability and age-focused groups –

© City A.M.