Open Rights Group

20/08/2026

Nottinghamshire Police could target children for anti-social behaviour using their intrusive and discriminatory face-scanning tech.

We've joined Big Brother Watch and leading rights groups to tell the force to .

Live facial recognition puts ALL our rights and freedoms at risk.

Adding children – some as young as 11 years old – and subjecting them to biometric ID checks is unacceptable.

We demand .

Read the letter ➡️https://www.openrightsgroup.org/app/uploads/2026/08/Letter-to-Nottinghamshire-Police-on-LFR_Aug-2026.pdf

15/08/2026

Young people have their say: rethink the social media ban.

It makes a bad situation worse. Teens are just being pushed into unregulated spaces.

A ban does nothing to actually tackle the cause of online harms coming from the business model of the platforms themselves.

That’s what we need to fix.

Youth groups have warned the Prime Minister the plans could lead young people to less regulated parts of the internet.

13/08/2026

Prevent referrals have shot up by ~40% 📈

Kids, teens and vulnerable people are being pushed into a mass surveillance programme where 80% of referrals don't go anywhere. But their data remains in the system. It’s clear that a programme designed for counter-terrorism has lost the plot.

Under 18s make up the majority of referrals into Prevent. Over a third are people with mental health conditions and people who are neurodivergent. Often referrals are made to fast track people to get support. Long-term surveillance is the trade off. Prevent is the wrong answer.

It's meant to identify people at risk of radicalisation before any crime has been committed. But over 50% of referrals fall under 'no fixed ideology'. And governments have added more categories into the mix, bloating the system with referrals that don't belong under a counter-terrorism lens.

Beyond the headlines figures, there's little transparency over the extent of surveillance that those referred into Prevent will face. Being neither wholly owned by policing or by counter-terrorism, there appears to be no oversight or parliamentary scrutiny of data sharing, processing and storage.

Prevent is expanding the surveillance state at an unruly rate. Public sector workers shouldn't be co-opted as agents of counter-terror policing. People in need of support shouldn't be stigmatised as suspect.

We need real investment in education, community health services and local infrastructure.

Read our latest blog ⬇️

Over 10,000 people were referred to the Prevent programme between October 2024 to September 2025, according to the government’s latest figures.

06/08/2026

Prevent referrals rocketed by almost 40% last year 🚨

Of those referred into this counter-terrorism programme, the majority were under 18. Almost 400 were children under 10!

More than a third have a mental health condition or are neurodiverse.

This is a huge expansion of the surveillance state.

The Prevent Duty has transformed trusted public sector workers into agents of counter-terror policing. And those in need of support into subjects of suspicion.

Community safety demands real investment in education, community services and local infrastructure to support often young and vulnerable people – not to stigmatise and surveil them.

The Home Office says the 10-year-high in referrals could be due to the 2024 Southport attacks.

29/07/2026

The use of AI in asylum decision-making is a disaster.

AI hallucinated a document that led to an asylum application being denied.

Applicants aren't being informed that opaque AI tools are being used in their case, nor being given the opportunity to correct errors churned out by these opaque tools.

ORG's legal opinion shows that the Home Office's use of AI tools to summarise interviews and key documents in asylum decision-making is likely unlawful.

The lack of transparency means that unlawful or unfair decisions may result from AI hallucinations and errors in rewriting critical information.

Upper tribunal unable to find document cited in case and claims it is ‘analogous to relying on bogus evidence’

20/07/2026

A new UK Prime Minister is a fresh opportunity to stand up to Big Tech.

We must break the excessive power that a handful of US-based companies have over our lives.

We've joined with partner organisations to end this dependency and unlock British innovation.

Read the letter ➡️https://www.openrightsgroup.org/app/uploads/2026/07/Letter-to-Prime-Minister-Andy-Burnham.pdf

18/07/2026

Last week we sent a letter signed by 20 organisations calling for an investigation into the ICO for failings over the eVisa scheme.

Despite issues with the scheme being raised from the start, the ICO hasn't taken action against the Home Office to protect migrants' data rights.

We need answers.

The Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee must ensure data protection is taken seriously by the Home Office and upheld by the ICO.

With the position of Information Commissioner now vacant, MPs must push government to deliver a regulator with teeth.

Sign our petition ➡️ https://action.openrightsgroup.org/reset-ico

Exclusive: UK’s data regulator failing to hold the government to account for breaches, campaigners say

17/07/2026

Is the ICO is without a head. But its problems run deeper 🚧

The regulator has taken its hands off the wheel by failing to enforce data protection law for a long time. As the search for a new Commissioner gets underway, the ICO needs a fundamental reset that puts our rights first.

Lacking proper arms-length from the government, the ICO hasn't properly supervised public bodies, allowing data malpractices to spread. This is clear in the failure to take action over the MoD's Afghan data breach, the Home Office's flawed eVisa scheme and HMRC's unjust crackdown on child benefits.

Despite recognising that automated systems expose workers to heightened risks of discrimination and wage-theft, the ICO has taken no enforcement action. The outgoing Commissioner even backed down to let UK data protection reforms gut our right not to be subject to solely automated decision-making.

The ICO has actively pushed for age verification measures at the expense of privacy. This fails to address the repurposing of personal data from age checks for targeted online advertising. In turn, advertising data is used to drive up engagement, exploit addictions and target harmful content.

The meltdown of the ICO leadership underscores the need to restore integrity at the top. This starts with an end to the revolving door of senior staff working for the industries or companies that they were meant to police. Establishing proper boundaries against corporate influence is necessary.

The ICO needs an overhaul of its regulatory and enforcement posture. The government have an opportunity to restore effective oversight of data protection rule. It's essential for trustworthy public sector delivery, innovation that benefits workers, and a digital economy that works for the public.

Data protection is key to regulate AI and promote online safety, child protection workers’ rights and public service delivery. Without proper regulation and policing of data practices, harms ensue, public trust erodes and markets fail.

That's why we need a regulator with teeth.

Sign and share the petition ➡️ https://action.openrightsgroup.org/reset-ico

Following the conclusion of an internal HR process, the Information Commissioner is on garden leave, before his final exit.

16/07/2026

TODAY ⏰️

We've partnered with SFLC India and other groups in a special event.

The expert panel, including ORG's James Baker, will explore how governments are shaping age assurance laws, the role of platforms and the risks to our rights and the open Internet.

Watch live from 3pm BST ⬇️

In collaboration with Open Rights Group, Open Net Korea, Stop Killi...

16/07/2026

Yesterday we hosted an event on how the UK can build Digital Sovereignty.

Our panel explored open source and the Digital Commons in creating a more resilient, transparent and equitable future.

Public money should be spent on public code that benefits us all.

Catch up on the event with Jim Killock, Megan Kirkwood and Jordan Maris.

Watch now ⬇️

The UK’s over reliance on a small number of foreign technology companies is putting our economy, security and democracy at risk. But now the movement away from Big Tech and towards Digital Sovereig...