A British victim of trafficking, drugged and abused is reported to lodge a case against home secretary, on grounds of unauthorised access to her personal information. Five other such survivors of human trafficking and sexual exploitation have threatened Priti Patel and Home Office of legal proceedings according to The Guardian.
Her case casts spotlight on the Home Office’s claim that it owns extensive data collected on victims of trafficking by charities contracted by the department, under the victim care contract.
The survivor’s legal team has argued that the Home Office has unlawfully accessed legally privileged communication between the woman and her lawyers. They are also claiming that the Home Office has breached her human rights with access to her personal information without consent, has breached data regulations and failed to provide adequate guidance on the use of victims’ personal information, leading to systemic problems.
The Home Office has confirmed that she is a serial victim of modern-day slavery. The department disputes that it has acted unlawfully, saying support workers who help victims of trafficking are “Home Office agents”, that it complies with data protection legislation and is the controller of data relating to victims of trafficking.
