Police are targeting thousands of political campaigners in surveillance operations and storing their details on a database for at least seven years, an investigation by the Guardian can reveal.
Activists "seen on a regular basis" as well as those deemed on the "periphery" of demonstrations are included on the police databases, regardless of whether they have been convicted or arrested. * Names, political associations and photographs of protesters from across the political spectrum - from campaigners against the third runway at Heathrow to anti-war activists - are catalogued. * Police forces are exchanging information about protesters stored on their intelligence systems, enabling officers from different forces to search which political events an individual has attended.
* Names, political associations and photographs of protesters from across the political spectrum - from campaigners against the third runway at Heathrow to anti-war activists - are catalogued.
* Police forces are exchanging information about protesters stored on their intelligence systems, enabling officers from different forces to search which political events an individual has attended.
