“Despite the lack of utility to state security, [Prevent] referrals – and their storage, retention and sharing – can have disruptive and lasting impacts on individuals, including children as young as 6-years-old.”
If you’re referred to Prevent, your data rights are made difficult to enforce.
The right to erasure is weakened by a lack of transparency about data sharing between multiple databases and national security exemptions used by counter-terrorism police.
"The overwhelming majority of people subject to Prevent referrals did not meet the threshold for a de-radicalisation intervention, yet their data is being retained for at least six years."
ORG's report raises serious concerns about the Prevent programme (UK).
Our report into widespread data misuse under the Prevent programme comes as referrals have spiked following the Israel/Gaza conflict.
Students should have safe spaces to process the world around them without fearing it’ll mark them for life. Prevent is a flawed programme that undermines freedom of expression and abuses data rights.
Lacking in oversight and transparency, the national Prevent database operates in the shadows.
Prevent masquerades as a safeguarding measure while the police exercise security exemptions over data to limit protections in favour continued surveillance of mostly Muslim communities.
"This trial [of AI security cabinets] treats all shoppers as potential criminals... once this intrusive technology is in place what is to stop supermarkets from profiling their customers and potentially using their data for financial gain."
The Gangs Matrix is finally being disbanded after years of criticism.
BUT the discriminatory profiling of racialised communities is unlikely to end as the institutionally racist Met Police rebrands the database as the Violence Harm Assessment.
The Think Family Education system is ‘a form of digital police in schools.’
We joined Fair Trials and 20+ civil society groups to write to the Mayor of Bristol (UK) and MPs about the app that profiles children and families, ‘predicts’ criminality and shares sensitive data.
Apply now for the role of Programme Manager (Pre-Crime) at ORG to lead on our projects covering predictive policing, counter-terrorism policy and tech.
Also critical to the role is supporting civil society and grassroots organisations that represent and advocate for over-policed and over-surveilled communities.
📍 Remote working
🕛 Apply by Wednesday 6 December
💬 Interviews on 11-13 December
The miscarriage of justice in the #Manchester10 case shows pre-crime policing not only attacks young people’s freedom of expression, but can lead to life-changing harms and perpetuates institutionalised racism in the UK.
The use of spy drones does "little for public safety and may be especially alarming for those from communities which face disproportionate #surveillance already."
Claiming mass surveillance is about safety masks data harvesting for discriminatory predictive #policing.
If it is about student wellbeing, policy-makers "should invest in harm reduction approaches and strong community safety." Anything else is subterfuge.