Protect Our Personal Data

Aim

Our right to privacy is under threat. Help Liberty defend personal data security, expose hidden misuse and fight for stronger safeguards.

MORE OF OUR PERSONAL INFORMATION IS BEING COLLECTED THAN EVER BEFORE. WE’RE FIGHTING TO KEEP IT SECURE AND EXPOSING WHEN IT’S MISUSED. 

WILL YOU STAND WITH US?

Every day, information about our lives is being collected, stored and analysed on an unprecedented scale.

The messages we send, the photos we share, and information about our health, finances, education and family life.

Technology can make life easier, safer and more connected. But without strong safeguards, it can give governments, police forces and public authorities extraordinary power over our personal information, often with little transparency or accountability.

Liberty believes everyone should know when their data is collected, how it is used and who has access to it. Our personal information must never be used in secret, without accountability or without proper safeguards.

That's why we're fighting back.

DEFENDING END-TO-END ENCRYPTION

End-to-end encryption protects our messages, emails, photographs, passwords, health information and financial data. It helps keep our most sensitive information safe from criminals, hackers and unauthorised access.

But these protections are under threat.

The UK Government has reportedly used secret powers known as Technical Capability Notices (TCN) to try to force Apple to weaken encryption protections. Liberty is challenging the TCN regime because weakening encryption would put everyone’s privacy and security at risk.

This is about more than one company. It is about whether the Government should be able to weaken the tools that keep all of us safe online. If encrypted backups or messages are made less secure, private conversations, photos, passwords, health information and financial details will become easier for criminals, hackers or hostile actors to access.

That’s why Liberty is challenging these secret powers and fighting to protect encryption before a dangerous precedent is set.
 

EXPOSING PREDICTIVE POLICING

At the same time, Liberty is uncovering how personal data is being used in increasingly powerful policing technologies.

Liberty Investigates has exposed how police forces are using sensitive information in predictive systems that can generate risk scores and influence policing decisions. 

In Bristol, data from more than 90% of residents was fed into models using information that reportedly included housing status, mental health records and free school meal eligibility. Officials used this data to build what they described as a "picture of threat, harm and risk in the region", despite many people having no idea their information was being used in this way. Two of these predictive models were later discontinued after concerns were raised about their reliability.

This means people, including children, could be secretly profiled or marked as a risk because of deeply personal information about their health, housing, education or family circumstances. If these systems are inaccurate or impossible to challenge, people’s lives can be shaped by data they never knew was being used.

People deserve to know how their data is being used, to challenge decisions that affect their lives, and to have confidence that powerful technologies are subject to proper oversight.

That’s why Liberty is pushing for stronger safeguards before these technologies become embedded across society.

HOW WE'RE FIGHTING BACK

For nearly 90 years, Liberty has challenged abuses of power and defended people's rights.

Today, we're:

• Challenging attempts to weaken encryption and undermine digital privacy. 
• Investigating how personal data is being used by police and public authorities.
• Exposing hidden threats to privacy and accountability.
• Campaigning for stronger safeguards around new technologies.
• Defending everyone's right to a private life.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

This is a crucial moment to demand stronger protections for our data and our rights.

With your support, Liberty can continue to challenge powerful institutions, expose hidden uses of personal data and fight for the transparency, accountability and safeguards we all deserve.

Please donate today and help defend our right to privacy.

Your donation will go to the Civil Liberties Trust, a registered charity (no. 1024948) which works closely with Liberty. Liberty is the trading name of The National Council for Civil Liberties, a registered company in England and Wales (no. 03260840). The address for both is Liberty House 26-30 Strutton Ground, London, SW1P 2HR. 

Any unused or additional funds raised will be used to support Liberty’s work to protect and promote human rights in the UK. We adhere to the Fundraising Code of Practice and strive to offer the best possible service to our supporters. Read our supporter promise.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 12th October 2026 at 9:59am