Exclusive: tech firm admits algorithm weighs claimants’ age, which is protected in equality law
An automated system that screens welfare claimants for signs they might commit fraud or error has based its verdicts in part on applicants’ age, it has emerged, sparking calls for a review of whether the system is legal.
Xantura, a UK technology firm that provides “risk-based verification” to about 80 councils and has assessed hundreds of thousands of claimants, previously said it did not feed its algorithm any information protected under anti-discrimination laws.
