Netpol have today launched a campaign to limit the gathering of data by the police on political protest. The campaign, don’t be on a database, encourages protesters to assert their legal rights to keep their personal details private. The campaign includes a series of posters and flyers with the words, ‘Your name and address is none of their business’.
Netpol has observed and reported countless incidents in which the police have tried to obtain names and addresses of protesters, often with some form of coercion. In a number of cases the police have used the threat of arrest to obtain details from protesters who had committed no criminal offence, and made unjustified allegations that people had engaged in ‘anti-social behaviour’.
The police have powers to demand personal data only in very limited situations, such as when they believe a person has committed a criminal offence, or if they are driving a vehicle. In the vast majority of instances, the police have no power to demand this information – yet they routinely do.
more here Don’t be on a database « Netpol.
