We’re holding the Home Office to account. Help us expose border surveillance by making a Subject Access Request.
Through our Bordering Surveillance: Challenging the Criminalisation of Racialised Migrants project, the Migrants’ Rights Network is researching how the UK Government, and private companies use surveillance technologies – drones, manned aircraft, and AI-driven coastal towers – to detect, track, and sometimes provide evidence used to take people who crossed the English Channel in so called “small boats” to court.
We are working with lawyers to support people seeking asylum to find out what evidence the UK Government holds about them. This is called a Subject Access Request (SAR).
A SAR asks an organisation – for example the Home Office, Border Force, the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, or a contractor – to give you copies of the personal data they hold about you.
Why is this important?
Our aim is to show what data is collected and shared, and to challenge tools and practices that contribute to the criminalisation of people seeking asylum and other migrants.
How can this support you?
If you take part you may benefit in several ways:
- Find out exactly what personal data an organisation holds about you, including images or video, timestamps, GPS metadata, AI or analytics outputs, and documents that mention you;
- Identify and correct errors, protect your safety, and gather evidence that may support an asylum or legal case;
- Contribute to our challenge of potentially unlawful uses of surveillance, bringing legal claims under the Data Protection Act 2018, UK GDPR, and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights;
- Increase transparency and accountability, which can help change policy and reduce the risk of future criminalisation.
What else are we doing?
- Using Freedom of Information requests to analyse contracts, policies and data-sharing agreements;
- Reviewing the Data Protection Impact Assessments associated with this surveillance;
- Attending relevant court hearings to directly witness what is being used as evidence to prosecute illegalised asylum seekers.
How can you help? And what is a Subject Access Request?
A SAR asks an organisation – for example the Home Office, Border Force, the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, or a contractor – to give you copies of the personal data they hold about you. SARs can reveal images, video, timestamps, location data, AI outputs and documents that mention you.
Organisations must normally respond within one month, with limited statutory extensions for complex requests. If a request is refused, the organisation must explain which legal exemption it is relying on and why.
With your permission, the Migrants’ Rights Network can help you make a SAR or apply on your behalf. People seeking asylum will usually need to provide some form of identification and signed authorisation for representatives or caseworkers to make an application for them.
Get in touch
If you would like to take part or want more information, contact Samuel Storey by email. Any communications will be treated in strict confidence.
Email: [email protected]