Home Office is creating a 'super database' on people's race, health and biometrics, report

Data collected also includes people's names, location details, identification numbers and online identifiers

The Home Office's secretive Data Services & Analytics unit has been accused of creating a 'super database' that holds information on millions of people and risks worsening racial biases among law enforcement agencies.

According to Wired, documents obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request reveal that the database has already accumulated race, health and biometrics information on about 650 million people, including children under 13.

The data collected includes people's names, location details, identification numbers and online identifiers, as well as "sensitive data" such as race or ethnic origin, criminal convictions and biometric data.

It is unclear, however, where the data comes from. In January 2020, the government said in a procurement notice that the Data Services & Analytics unit sources the information from immigration and border systems, commercial databases and data from law enforcement agencies. However, specifics of data providers in the FOI documents made available by the Home Office were redacted, according to the Wired.

Out of over 30 data providers listed in the documents, only two - data analytics firm Dun & Bradstreet and fraud prevention firm GB Group - were not redacted.

GB Group told Wired that it did provide data but declined to reveal further details due to "confidentiality obligations".

Dun & Bradstreet said that it was against its policy to comment on work with clients.

A Home Office spokesperson told Wired that the department holds a large amount of data to carry out essential operations, and that all data is held securely and processed in line with data protection laws and the Human Rights Act 1998.

A recent industry event seems to indicate that the Data Services & Analytics unit is involved in at least two Home Office projects, the status checking project and the warnings index project.

Eric Omanovic, who filed the FOI request for Privacy International, told Wired that the Home Office must reveal the true extent of its mass data gathering programme.

The news about Home Office's 'super database' comes about a month after it emerged that two internet providers in the UK have been secretly testing a surveillance tool that could collect the browsing history of all internet users in the country.

The unnamed ISPs are alleged to be conducting the tests in association with the National Crime Agency, as part of a Home Office exercise. The purpose is to determine if it's possible to roll out a bulk surveillance system on a country-wide scale for the purposes of law enforcement and national security.

The tests are being carried out under controversial Investigatory Powers Act, or Snooper's Charter, which was introduced in 2016.

It was also reported last week that the Home Office has allegedly been considering legal and technical measures to compel Facebook to break the encryption on its messaging apps.

Such a backdoor could give law-enforcement agencies access to the contents of messages sent using Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram chat services.

The Open Rights Group (ORG) has urged the Home Office to clarify all measures that it has been considering to break end-to-end encryption.

The ORG said that attacks by the government cannot be seen as 'just' targeting Facebook. Rather, the move is predicated on the assumption that 'we are all criminals' and that the government is likely planning to use powers introduced in the Investigatory Powers Act to restrict the ability of online platforms to use encryption, especially at scale.