GPS tagging case podcast

Our Katie Schwarzmann, and her client Mark Nelson, have been interviewed by Privacy International’s podcast on Mark’s test case challenging the Home Office’s policy of GPS tagging migrants. You can listen to it here.

Mark, a car mechanic and father of five, has been forced to wear a GPS tag by the Home Office for the past 20 months. This is despite evidence that the tag was broken for a period of about six months, that there have been significant inaccuracies with the GPS data collected and the detrimental impact on Mark’s mental health and family life. This is the first case to challenge this policy. Judgment is currently awaited.

There are currently no set time limits on how long an individual can be made to wear a GPS tag, meaning they can be tagged for years. The Home Office are supposed to review the necessity of making someone wear a GPS tag every three months, however recent research by the Public Law Project revealed that between 22 May and 14 August 2023, the Home Office ceased monitoring individuals in less than 1% of cases that were reviewed. This is an alarming statistic suggesting that the Home Office is not properly considering the impact of this intrusive Big Brother technology on people’s everyday lives.  

Mark is also represented by Donnchadh Greene of Doughty Street Chambers and Sarah Hannett KC of Matrix Chambers.

Links:

• Wilsons summary of the case.
• Privacy International’s complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (The UK’s Data Protection Authority).
• Public Law Project’s recent 2023 report on the expansion of the GPS tagging scheme.
• Public Law Project’s 2022 report on the GPS tagging scheme and its “inhumane” effects.