The Sofia police documents say the forces collected “children’s personal data” from social media sites as part of a “large-scale profiling” project.
The Met says the scheme, known as Project Alpha, is helping to combat serious violence by gathering intelligence to identify violators and ensure the removal of videos praising the drilling and shooting of platforms such as YouTube.
The department, which includes more than 30 employees and was launched in 2019 with funding from the Ministry of Interior, searches social media sites, viewing music videos and other content.
A Met document seen by the Guardian said the project “will carry out large-scale profiling”, focusing on men aged 15 to 21. After questioning, police said both were a mistake.
The blunders found in an earlier anti-gang database have fueled concerns about Project Alpha, children’s privacy and police focused on young black children as signs of crime.
A veteran of the community, Stafford Scott said he feared the project was part of an ongoing attack on young black people. “Young people use social media to increase their life experience. “It’s a design tool, you can’t rely on it to detect it,” he said. “It is racially motivated, racially motivated and includes racial stereotypes.”
Met says he searched the racial bias chart in assessing the impact of equality and found none.
The Alpha project was launched in June 2019 and is supported by the Ministry of the Interior, which has provided almost £ 5 million. Although heavily edited, the new December 2020 document provides new details.
This is a data protection impact assessment and includes questions examining compliance with data protection laws and principles, and answers from scheme managers. It was first obtained at the request of the Freedom of Information Act from the investigative organization Point Source.
The document says men aged 15 to 21 will be targeted and promises not to share information about young people without a “convincing” reason.
To the question “will there be systematic monitoring or profiling on a large scale or in public?”, The answer is “yes”, but the rest of the answer is mostly empty.
Asked “will the project carry out large-scale profiling?”, The “yes” box was checked by Met. The answer continues: “The importance of large-scale is not defined in the Data Protection Act 2018. But this may include activities such as using existing data to identify [an] natural person for operational purposes or review. “
Asked whether the project would “process children’s personal data for profiling or automated decision-making… or for marketing purposes”, police said yes and added: “The project is focused on reducing serious violence among young people and many which include directly or indirectly under the age of 18. “The full name and affiliation to the gang must be recorded,” it said.
In his first statement to the Guardian on the Met document, he said: “The inclusion of the demographic 15-21 years[s] it was an old mistake. Because we do not “large-scale profiling”, we are unable to provide demographics to individuals involved in uploading harmful content online. We do not seek to identify personal information about those who publish videos, and as such we have limited personal information (mostly only the videos themselves). “
Asked why staff checked “yes” in the box, asking if the project would “carry out large-scale profiling”, Met added: “The” yes “box in point 10 of this early answer is incorrect”.
The force declined to give the number or age of those Alpha was considering, or broad criteria such as whether a person should be suspected.
The document says the scheme is designed to “combine, compare or contrast data from multiple sources” and use new technologies or “new uses of existing technologies”.
It says gangs are responsible for four out of 10 home killings and terrorists, six out of 10 shootings and one in five stabbed when the victim is 25 or younger.
In the document, the police justify their decision not to tell the young people to whom they are subject [the] interest of Project Alpha, as this may affect their behavior and lead to more insults. “
Met’s credibility has been damaged after the Information Commissioner criticized him for his gang matrix and issued a performance notice in 2018. The matrix listing alleged gang members and their risk of violence or victimhood has been declared a racist by Amnesty. International and after pressure that Met said he changed it.
Emmanuel Andrews of the Liberty Human Rights Group said: “This observation and observation of young people and children is deeply worrying, affecting their right to express themselves and to participate in friendly and social networks. This could have serious consequences for their future, such as their ability to access housing, education and employment.
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“Police surveillance of the kind by the Alpha Met and the gang matrix does not address the causes of serious violence – it only serves to criminalize and harass young people, especially young black men and boys.”
In an interview with the Police College, the head of Project Alpha, PC Michael Rayton, welcomed its benefits. “After decoding the hyper-local context of the lyrics, hand gestures and the symbolism of the visual content used by the ambitious rappers, we identified threats and intervened proactively to prevent an escalation of violence,” he said.
Met told the Information Commissioner that Alpha had helped identify intelligence on violence gathered by social media and people committing crimes, as well as tracking down wanted perpetrators: “The team collects” open source “information that is information collected from social media accounts (private and open). ), websites and mass media. They also collect post-event information, such as where gang incidents have occurred and relevant online comments.
“The project has so far revealed threats and risks that would not otherwise be identified by other police methods.
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