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‘Digital hostile environment’: AI secretly being embedded across Home Office, report claims

AI has been embedded across the Home Office in near-total secrecy, reinforcing the so-called hostile environment for immigration, according to research. Tasks from the detection of potential sham marriages to determining the age of asylum seekers and checking through the contents of phones of new arrivals now involve use of the technology, according to a report by Open Rights Group (ORG). It is also being used to conduct surveillance of borders, through live facial recognition and AI-powered drones and satellite…

By the Truvace desk2 min read1 sourceEvidence: Moderate · 55/100 — Investigative reporting · 1 independent sourceJournalismTRV-2026-2277· cite & verify
‘Digital hostile environment’: AI secretly being embedded across Home Office, report claims

In brief

A report by Open Rights Group, built from limited Home Office publications, freedom of information requests and parliamentary questions, says AI now touches many immigration tasks. These include sham marriage detection, age assessment of asylum seekers, phone content checks, border surveillance, interview summaries and case prioritisation through the Ipic tool.

The findings matter because the affected people are asylum seekers and migrants who have little power to challenge automated or AI-assisted processes. What remains uncertain is how far the tools shape outcomes: the Home Office says caseworkers make decisions and AI only assists, while the report's evidence rests on partial disclosures.

Main points

  1. The report lists uses including sham marriage detection, age determination, phone checks, live facial recognition, AI-powered drones and satellites, and summaries of asylum interviews.
  2. Officials are said to routinely invoke national security to stonewall or redact freedom of information disclosures.
  3. Cross-party MPs Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Pete Wishart and Siân Berry support the report.
  4. The group wants AI regulation, a ban on uses such as ChatGPT tools in asylum applications, and a public register of government AI tools.
  5. The Home Office says AI does not replace human decision-makers and has committed to publishing updated evaluations.

The problem

Open Rights Group says AI tools in Home Office immigration and asylum work are opaque and can replicate bias, with accountability unclear when they fail and vulnerable people bearing the greatest risks.

The rundown

The report, titled Automated Discrimination: Unpacking the Digital Hostile Environment, argues that AI is being used to reinforce the hostile environment first envisaged by Theresa May as home secretary in 2012. It criticises successive governments for treating complex human cases as technical problems.

Open Rights Group asks for stronger freedom of information laws and a narrower definition of national security. It also seeks strict regulation to limit AI use and prevent wider rollout in immigration.

The Home Office responded that AI is one tool among many, that trained caseworkers make asylum decisions, and that tools are used only to help navigate interview records and policy information. It says performance is monitored alongside quality-assurance processes.

Sources

  1. JournalismThe Guardian2026-10-27

The debate