UC Review.

olgadapolga

born_again said:

Word will also output in PDF 👍

This is one of the most useful things in Word, I use it a lot. You can also email PDFs directly from word.

TimeLord1

Speaking with a Citizens Advice rep they're only wanting to know the balance for PayPal not if it's zero balance and just a debit credit card attached. What I wonder is how long they hold this information and who has access to such personal information. GDP should be a priority and disposal of information on the system by a time limit.

born_again

In effect a PP account will be treated just the same as a bank account. So would expect a min of 6 years, or as long as DWP deem fit with a active UC account.
Given the intended change to allow DWP access to bank acc's. It is possible that there is no timeframe, with a active UC account.

With my PP account. I had to provide 4 months of transactions. Even though it is only used for purchases. I did not have to provide any details of card or account it was linked too. They did not mention it at all in 2nd review.

Only people that have a need to access your UC account will have a legitimate right to view any info held. Like banking & many other area's, anyone accessing a account they do not have a valid reason to faces a disciplinary process, which in some case will mean the sack.

NedS

TimeLord1 said:

Speaking with a Citizens Advice rep they're only wanting to know the balance for PayPal not if it's zero balance and just a debit credit card attached. What I wonder is how long they hold this information and who has access to such personal information. GDP should be a priority and disposal of information on the system by a time limit.

Generally, DWP will record the minimum amount of information possible on the UC system. I believe this is considered general best practice, not to record or store more data than is required, nor longer than is required.

For bank accounts etc, UC will generally store the last 4 digits of the account number and the balance only on the UC system. The UC system is very restrictive about what can be uploaded onto the system and stored - they generally do not want bank statements and other such data uploaded onto the system as it creates security risks, hence the practice to just transcribe and store the last 4 digits of the account number and balance. This is why there is no accessible option for claimants to just upload stuff. Any upload task is always created by a UC agent and very specific instructions are given to the claimant about what they should upload.

Any bank statements etc that are provided will not be kept or stored (UC only want to see them, not keep them). For routine things like capital/housing verification etc, normally an evidence appointment would be booked at a jobcentre, the claimant would bring in their evidence (e.g, a bank statement, tenancy agreement), the agent conducting the appointment would view the bank statement, record the balance and last 4 digits on the system and return the bank statement(s) to the claimant. These are not copied, kept or stored.

UC reviews are a little different as these are not conducted by face to face appointment at a jobcentre, instead there is a claimant todo to upload the evidence. These todo's are locked and protected by Role-Based Access Controls (RBACs), meaning only the UC Review Agent who created the task to upload the evidence can access it. All other UC members of staff are denied access if they click on it in the system. Once received, the UC review agent will enter the evidence onto the system, conduct their review, and delete all copies of evidence provided once the review is completed. These uploaded evidence documents are not routinely stored or kept as far as I am aware.

The UC system also has (or at least had, I've not checked recently) an additional process in place where uploaded documents are automatically deleted from the system after 30 days, in case the agent forgets to delete them after processing them. The rationale being that they should have been processed and deleted within 30 days, so if they still exist they either aren’t/weren't needed or the agent has forgot to delete them. UC can always ask the claimant to provide them again if needed.

These processes are constantly being revised to make the system more secure, but I know it's a constant battle between making the system more user friendly (e.g, allowing customers to upload evidence rather than requiring a face to face appointment) versus keeping the system as secure as possible and storing sensitive information in accord with relevant laws.

Where a case may result in a prosecution, things may be different as there are legal considerations around the collecting, handling and storing of evidence to be used in a criminal prosecution, but at that point how DWP stores your data is probably the least of your concerns.

The new banking and digital access laws won't change anything. UC won't have access to people's bank accounts. What will change is the automated detection of potential fraud, so those UC Reviews can be a lot more targeted towards those individuals where the new digital powers have raised a red flag suggesting they may have more capital than they have declared, or are routinely conducting foreign transactions suggesting they are living abroad for long periods of time. Hopefully the percentage (hit rate) of UC Reviews resulting in corrective action should rise as the system becomes more efficient at detecting fraud and error, which is something that will be good for everyone.

TimeLord1

Sorry I just seen this @NedS as you say' I think storing millions of people's information for a long length of time would put a big drain on that platform. I know during COVID it coped fairly easy with the amount of applicants.  Maybe the not to distant future will see an App linked up similar to the NHS system.  

peteuk

born_again said:

Word will also output in PDF 👍

And print to a pdf, should you need to.

Spoonie_Turtle

Question for those who've had reviews: if they phone you, do they tell you that they're going to phone or just phone unannounced and hope you pick up for an unrecognised number?

born_again

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Question for those who've had reviews: if they phone you, do they tell you that they're going to phone or just phone unannounced and hope you pick up for an unrecognised number?

We got a text reminder day before. 
but checking that was back in 2022 & 2023. 👍

peteuk

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Question for those who've had reviews: if they phone you, do they tell you that they're going to phone or just phone unannounced and hope you pick up for an unrecognised number?

My son was sent notification of a call, which suggested it could take up to an hour.  Passing security took longer than the actual questions they had about his accounts.  All in less than 10 minutes.

HillStreetBlues

This is what my journal looks like