The Metropolitan Police last night confirmed it uses a criminal database to hold private information about protesters, including those who have not been convicted or accused of any crime.
The records are said to contain photos obtained by video surveillance of rallies and meetings as well as details of the demonstrators' political affiliations.
Activists who attended anti-war marches, climate change campaigns and protests against the proposed third Heathrow runway are among those whose personal data is stored on the Crimint database, which also contains intelligence on suspected criminals.
Last night civil liberty campaigners said that the police could be breaking the law by keeping information on innocent people. The Met Police's video surveillance techniques are well known but it was previously unclear whether and for how long they kept the data.
Such a relief to know that the keystone cops are keeping an eye on the criminals...wink-wink.
ReplyDeleteWell we will keep an eye on the slippery slimey mob that they never seem to record on their database wizardry...wink-wink.
Like Mandelson the wanker and "whats her face" Smith.
Someone has too.