Denmark's Udbetaling Danmark welfare algorithm illegally surveilled millions

Udbetaling Danmark (UDK), Denmark's centralized welfare payment agency, used automated algorithms to check eligibility and detect fraud. The system collected personal data on millions of beneficiaries and their relatives, including non-beneficiaries, in what a think-tank called 'systematic surveillance'. A complaint to the Danish Data Protection Authority led to a ruling that the data collection violated GDPR, and UDK eventually deleted the illegally obtained data. The system also caused erroneous payments, including underpaying 300,000 pensioners by 94 million euros annually.

Date it happened

2019-01-01

Organisation involved

Udbetaling Danmark

This is a record of what was reported, not a finding that anyone broke the law. If it names your organisation and you believe it is wrong, the corrections process is free and open to everyone.