Public action

News & Analysis

various graphics about device surveillance

Policing Bill: An unsatisfactory debut on the statute books for mobile phone extraction

The controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing & Courts Bill includes provisions for 'extraction of information from electronic devices'. It relies solely on voluntary provision and agreement. We analyse the power imbalance between the State and individual - which calls into question 'voluntary provision' and 'agreement' as a basis for seizure of a device and extraction of data.

Long Read

various graphics of face and body surveillance

A guide to surveillance of your face and body at protests

Long Read

graphics of police looking at map and monitor

A guide to policing databases and predictive policing tools

Long Read

A guide to protect your devices against surveillance at protests

Long Read

Fact sheet on your data rights in relation to police surveillance at protests

An overview of your data rights in relation to data processed by the police at protests (UK edition).

Long Read

police officer through camera lens graphic

Fact sheet on photographing police officers at a protest

An overview of relevant considerations if and when photographing or filming police at a protest (UK edition).

News & Analysis

Can we be free to protest in an age of high tech police surveillance of protests?

Read our new ‘Free to Protest’ guides and learn about the high tech surveillance tools that enable the police to identify, monitor and track protestors, indiscriminately and at scale - and find out how you can better protect yourself.

Explainer

Free to Protest (UK edition)

‘Free to Protest: The protestor’s guide to police surveillance and how to avoid it’ (UK edition) is a collection of bite-sized guides about high-tech police surveillance capabilities at protests, including tips and strategies about how you can protect yourself from being identified, tracked and

Explainer

How social media monitoring can be used at a protest

A brief guide to how social media monitoring can be used at a protest, and how you can minimise risks to your data (UK edition)

Explainer

How the police can access your phone's 'unique identifiers' at a protest

The police can access your mobile phone’s ‘unique identifiers’. Learn how to maintain your anonymity (UK edition).

Explainer

How the police can access your digital communications at a protest

The police can access your digital communications. Learn how to limit the risk.

Explainer

Graphic of a desktop computer with map on screen

How the police can determine your location at a protest

If the police seize your phone during a protest, they can gain access to your location data. Here's how to better control access to your data (UK edition).

Explainer

Police officer walking into back of phone

How hacking can be used at a protest

A brief guide to how hacking can be used at protests and how you can minimise risks to your data (UK edition).

Explainer

What is an Aspen Card and why does it need reform?

An 'Aspen Card' is a debit payment card given to UK asylum seekers by the Home Office. The Aspen Card provides basic subsistence support, but purchases on the card are closely monitored by the Home Office, making it an insidious surveillance tool.

Video

An asylum seeker's testimony: ‘I realised that I was at the mercy of the system because I did not know how things work’

This real life testimony of a UK asylum seeker's experience of using their 'Aspen Card' payment card, explores the stress and anxiety caused by both the Home Office's surveillance of their purchases and the highly punitive measures that it can then take.

Video