Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Home Office loses appeal to take back compensation from asylum-seekers whose data it leaked

THE HOME OFFICE’s attempt to claw back compensation awarded to two asylum-seekers whose personal data the department had accidentally published online was thrown out by the Court of Appeal today.

A monumental cock-up meant the names, dates of birth, immigration status and local asylum office of 1,598 “lead applicants for asylum or leave to remain” were available on the Home Office website for 13 days in October 2013.

Under Theresa May’s leadership, the Home Office published “family returns process” data online.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
People thought to be migrants boarding a small boat in Gravelines, France, November 6, 2025
Britain / 18 November 2025
18 November 2025
COMPASSION: A protest outside Downing Street calling for more safe and legal routes for refugees to enter Britain and claim asylum, November 2021
Features / 5 September 2025
5 September 2025

Britain’s proud asylum history, from sheltering the Kindertransport escaping Hitler to Basque children fleeing fascist Spain, required tireless campaigning against persistent opposition — and it’s up to all of us to do our part today, writes SABINA PRICE