Visa application algorithm accused of racism will be scrapped

The UK government has stopped using an establish racist algorithm that decides visa applications.

The system, which has been used by the Home Office, has been accused of being "speedy boarding for white people" by the Foxglove, a digital rights group, and the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI).

This comes from the automatic system taking into account the applicant's nationality, with some countries allegedly leading to an automatic denial of the application.

The current system will be abandoned on the 7th of August, and a new system is expected to take its place in autumn.

Within the interim, the stream of visa application will be based on the specifics of the applicant, such as their previous travel rather than their nationality.

Those from a red-flagged nation would receive more scrutiny, scepticism, delays and more refusals of applications according to the JCWI.

This in itself is a violation of the Equality Act, as it has amounted to racial discrimination within the system, the group says.