TOOLS & TEMPLATES TO INVESTIGATE REPRESSION AND KNOW YOUR PROTEST RIGHTS
Liberty Investigates has obtained evidence of hidden repression of student protesters through extensive use of the Freedom of Information Act as well as helping individuals at over a dozen universities to submit requests for their personal data. We’ve uncovered cases of universities monitoring student protestors, with support from private intelligence firms, and offering intel to police. We also revealed how universities have reassured weapons companies they would monitor student social media and chat groups for signs of protests targeting careers events.
On this page, you will find some templates we have put together to submit your own Freedom of Information (FOI) Requests and Data Subject Access Requests (SAR), which may assist you in investigating these and other related matters further.
Disclaimer: You should only send a SAR to your university, the police, or a private intelligence firm if you feel comfortable doing so – your records will be looked at by the organisation’s data protection team and could potentially be exchanged with other departments in each organisation as part of your request.
Feel free to get in touch if you would like advice on submitting a request or challenging how it has been handled by the organisation you sent it to, as well as if you’ve received a response to your request which you would like us to consider including on this website.
Here you will also find links to guidance produced by the human rights organisation Liberty to inform students of their protest rights amid the ongoing clampdown.
Request for personal data held by your universityREQUEST FOR PERSONAL DATA HELD BY YOUR UNIVERSITY
This request for information that your university holds about you (your ‘personal data’) is known as a combined Freedom of Information and Subject Access Request (‘SAR’). Your right to submit a request for your personal data, known as a SAR, comes from the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The wording of this template also requests that your university discloses under the Freedom of Information Act full copies of any documents which your personal data forms an extract of, including any surrounding contextual details which do not strictly count as your personal data and so would not fall under the scope of a SAR.
The template is available to download, edit and then send to your university’s data protection team below:
REQUEST FOR PERSONAL DATA HELD BY YOUR POLICE
This request for information that your local police force holds about you (your ‘personal data’) is known as a combined Freedom of Information and Subject Access Request (‘SAR’). Your right to submit a request for your personal data, known as a SAR, comes from the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The wording of this template also requests that the police force disclose under the Freedom of Information Act full copies of any documents which your personal data forms an extract of, including any surrounding contextual details which do not strictly count as your personal data and so would not fall under the scope of a SAR.
The template is available to download, edit and then send to the police force’s data protection team below:
REQUEST FOR PERSONAL DATA HELD BY A PRIVATE INTELLIGENCE FIRMS
Our reporting has revealed that some UK universities have used at least two private intelligence first to monitor student protest: Horus Security Consultancy Limited and Global Situational Awareness. We also revealed that the use of a third firm, Dataminr, has been promoted to UK universities.
These requests for information that these companies hold about you (your ‘personal data’) are called Subject Access Requests (‘SAR’). Your right to make an SAR comes from the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).
The templates are available to download, edit and then send to the companies’ data protection team below:
Request for personal data held by Global Situational Awareness template
Request for personal data held by Dataminr template
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST TEMPLATE
This is a basic template which you can use to submit a Freedom of Information request to any public body covered under the Freedom of Information Act – such as your universities or the police. Private companies are not covered.
PRACTICAL PROTEST GUIDE
Liberty has created a Practical Protest Guide: Student Edition – a resource designed to help students understand their rights, stay safe, and continue to stand up for what they believe in.
Knowledge is power: when you know your rights, you can assert them with confidence and push back against the ongoing clampdown on protest and freedom of expression in the UK and on campus activism.
Liberty’s guide, created in September last year, breaks down complex laws into clear, practical advice. It covers:
- your legal rights when protesting on campus
- what university authorities can and cannot do
- how to protect yourself if approached by police or security
- practical tips to help keep yourself and others safe