Home Office contractor collected data on UK citizens while checking migrants’ finances

Equifax, whose headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia, was behind a huge cybersecurity breach in 2017. Photograph: Mike Stewart/AP

The Home Office has been accused of collecting data on “hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting British citizens” while conducting financial checks on migrants.

A report by a private contractor for a routine immigration application was mistakenly sent to a charity by a government official, and contained information on more than 260 people including their names, dates of birth and electoral roll data.