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UK Pays £210,800 to 32 Migrants Over Unlawful Phone Seizures

A High Court ruling found the Home Office’s 2020 blanket policy breached privacy rights.

Overview

  • Another 41 claims remain unresolved, with reporting that as many as 1,323 people could be eligible to seek damages.
  • A Freedom of Information response reported the Home Office spent £735,000 contesting the case.
  • Nearly 2,000 phones were taken between April and November 2020, with full data downloads carried out until July of that year.
  • Court evidence described pressures on migrants to surrender PINs and said extracted data was stored in an intelligence database known as Project Sunshine.
  • Ministers have since legislated to allow device seizures, and the Home Office has resumed phone searches at Manston under the new law.