Neighbourhood Watched

From facial recognition to social media monitoring, from remote hacking to the use of mobile surveillance equipment called 'IMSI catchers', UK police forces are using an ever-expanding array of surveillance tools to spy on us as we go about our everyday lives.

Neighbourhood Watched police officer watching people

From facial recognition to social media monitoring, from remote hacking to the use of mobile surveillance equipment called 'IMSI catchers', UK police forces are using an ever-expanding array of surveillance tools to spy on us as we go about our everyday lives. Too often, these new and intrusive spying technologies are rolled out without the say, or even the knowledge, of the public or their locally elected representatives.

The use of police surveillance technologies can significantly interfere with our civil liberties and human rights. They threaten our privacy and may cause us to change who we associate with and what we feel we can do and say. These technologies can also be used to target, profile and discriminate against certain communities - including minority, low-income and politically active communities.

We are campaigning alongside Liberty for the public to have a greater say as to whether their local police force should be allowed to use such highly intrusive technologies. We believe these technologies should not be bought or used without proper public consultation and the approval of locally elected representatives, such as Police and Crime Commissioners.

To join our campaign, take two minutes to write to your local Police and Crime Commissioner to tell them how you feel about police surveillance of your community, and download our campaign pack to help you organise as a community.