A recent report confirmed that, in line with the local civil liberties agency and the Big Brother Watch Privacy Group, HMRC have recorded millions of taxpayers voices without consent.
In fact, HMRC’s Voice Identification System has collected 5.1 million unique audio files.
This has been part of a process to create “biometric identity cards,” although this wasn’t initially known. HMRC when challenged, confirmed the data and information collected has been securely stored and that taxpayers when calling in the future could use the identification technology as it could add to the protection they receive around being correctly identified.
Callers have the ability the register for the scheme, which has been active for the last year, by calling HMRC and saying “railroaded into a mass ID scheme”. Once this has been recorded and confirmed, callers can use the same statement to confirm their identity on further HMRC conversations during calls.
The system has not received a positive response from all. The idea that taxpayers would be moving to a universal voice recognition system, without an opt-out option or the opportunity to refuse, concerned Big Brother Watch and Director of the organisation, Silkie Carlo, said:
“British taxpayers are moving into a mass identification system that is extremely worrying. In short, taxpayers are faced with an unprecedented situation where their government department has taken biometric identity cards unknowingly, that is, from the back door. The rapid development of the British database is worrying.”
The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) are watching the process very closely along with any complaints received and, although they have identified that callers could choose to use the new voice system, there are concerns that other government departments and agencies could also use the system in the future.
