Privacy International has filed a complaint to the UK’s data regulator over the Home Office’s use of algorithms in immigration processing.

The rights advocacy group’s complaint was filed to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) over the collection and processing of migrants information by the Home Office for immigration enforcement.

The complaint specifically targets two algorithms used by the Home Office to process the personal information of migrants,: the Identity and Prioritise Immigration Cases (IPIC) and Electronic Monitoring Review Tool (EMRT).

Privacy International’s compliant alleges that the Home Office’s tools are not involving humans enough in decision making, claiming the tools ‘nudges’ case workers to accept the algorithmic recommendations with little oversight.

While algorithms and AI have the capability to improve efficiency, Privacy International alleges that these tools are being developed without appropriate safeguards or enough transparency to ensure ethical decision making takes place.

The complaint highlights a number of concerns, including the collection, retention, and processing of data presumptively in violation of many of the legal requirements set out in UK data protection law.

The privacy group calls the tools “highly intrusive” as they can processes sensitive data concerning an individual’s health, relations, and even GPS tracking data.

Privacy International estimates that these tools were used to make recommendations concerning the cases of tens of thousands of migrants.

“The potential harms arising from tools used across the immigration system at such scale include the potential for vulnerable individuals to be subjected to life-changing decisions. This may include detention or removal from the UK based on profiling and automated decision-making,” the complaint said.

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Privacy International contends that this means there is currently no way to verify the lawfulness of these processes or challenge their resulting decisions. Further, individuals are often left in the dark on what information is used in the assessments, how their data is processed, or the decision making process.

The advocacy group says the tools have been deployed “without sufficient safeguards” calling into question if the Home Office is complying with data protection laws in the UK.

Previous complaints by Privacy International against the Home Office have been successful – the ICO found that the Home Office’s continuous collection of migrants’ locational data was unlawful.