GDPR - Legitimate Interest

“Legitimate interest” may be among the most confusing concepts written into the GDPR, which is not helped by the amount of incorrect interpretations available when you search for the term online. It is also an especially important concept to understand for marketing and sales organizations.

To start, let us contextualize why legitimate interest matters by looking at Article 6(1):

https://www.gdpreu.org/the-regulation/key-concepts/legitimate-interest/

I am not an expert in this area.  

When we need to access a service it's inevitable that we will be requested to provide personal data.

DWP claimants provide a vast amount of personal information to make claims to a variety of welfare benefits, for example: name, address, date of birth, national insurance number, income, savings, health conditions etc.

DWP's role is to help and support people back to work, which may necessitate referrals to third parties and consent may be required to gain information about sensitive information, such as health conditions.

In the main, the information a claimant provides is on a consensual basis.   However, most DWP staff, its contractors and claimants are ignorant, or unsure about the legalities.

Most of us here are veterans and know, based on experience/knowledge that claimants can conceal data in particular circumstances.

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/report-a-breach/

Edit:

https://www.gov.uk/data-protection/make-a-complaint