The article makes the point that the benefits agency’s drive towards surveillance is largely driven by the need to defend against charges coming from right-wing

The article makes the point that the benefits agency’s drive towards surveillance is largely driven by the need to defend against charges coming from right-wing Danish politicians that there is widespread benefits fraud and waste. The conservative preference to avoid one undeserving person receiving benefits even if it risks the liberty and security of many deserving people is what pushes towards authoritarian implementations of benefits policies. You see the same in the US - it’s states like Florida that insist on drug testing for benefits recipients. The issue is not the benefits program - it’s that the benefits program is being administered by a conservative government who fundamentally believe that benefits should only go to those who ‘deserve’ them. The authoritarianism problem is not ‘socialist programs’ - it’s what happens when conservative perspectives on how socialist programs should be administered gain sway. In Denmark, even a broadly left coalition government contains more conservative members, and has to appease conservative voters to maintain power.