HMRC likely to have breached privacy laws in stopping child benefit – experts

The problem first emerged in Northern Ireland when HMRC stopped payments to people who returned from abroad through Dublin airport, pictured, across the border. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA

Ministers may have breached privacy laws when they suspended the child benefit of thousands of families on the basis of flawed Home Office information, legal experts have said.

At the same time, the UK’s data watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office, has contacted the national tax authority, HMRC, over the issues raised.