On 16 January 2025, Rights & Security International releases Caught in the Web, an investigative report uncovering new information about how the UK government collects and shares vast amounts of personal data about children and others under ‘Prevent’. ‘Prevent’ is a counter-terrorism strategy that forces teachers, NHS workers and others to report suspected ‘extremism’ under vague criteria, and it mainly impacts children and young people.
In the report, we conclude that Prevent is a surveillance programme aimed at compiling large dossiers of information about children, and that this information is shared with a wide range of public and private bodies – including immigration authorities, intelligence agencies and potentially foreign governments.
While the government has long maintained that Prevent referrals are only stored on policing databases temporarily, we find that in practice, the personal data from these referrals has a long life and could cause lasting harm. For example, a Prevent referral could cause someone to be unsuccessful in their application for British citizenship, lose their place at university, or lose their job.
The personal data from a Prevent referral includes a wide range of sensitive information. In many cases, it includes the person’s race or ethnicity (using labels put on them by the referrer), their religion, their immigration status, and their actual or perceived political opinions. Especially for children, it could include sensitive information about their families. There is no guarantee that this information is accurate, and in fact there are few safeguards to stop inaccurate information about people from getting into the system – and persisting there forever.
Prevent referrals impact thousands of people every year: there have been 58,127 referrals since 2015. Even potential referrals can result in police records.
Our key findings include:
Jacob Smith, who leads RSI’s Freedom of Expression and Belief programme and authored the report, said:
‘This investigation confirms what communities and parents in Britain have long feared: Prevent is not a safeguarding programme, but rather is a way for the police to create secret dossiers of information about people – particularly children.
‘The widespread data-sharing and hoarding we have uncovered violates the Human Rights Act, and the government is obligated to end this law-breaking.
‘The government must also stop saying that Prevent and Channel are consent-based: they are not.
‘These programmes have been misguided damaging from the start, and the government should scrap them altogether. The UK needs and deserves violence prevention programmes that are based on facts, not “gut feelings,” and designed to protect everyone.’
Download the report below and download all annexes of the report here.