Twelve UK universities, including some of the country’s most prestigious institutions, paid a private intelligence consultancy run by former military officials to monitor student activism and campus protest movements, including pro-Palestine demonstrations, according to a joint investigation.
The report by Al Jazeera English and Liberty Investigates alleges that Horus Security Consultancy Limited was contracted to collect and analyse open-source data, including social media activity, and to provide security briefings on protest movements and perceived campus risks.
According to the investigation, the firm has received at least £440,000 ($594,000) from UK universities since 2022 for intelligence gathering and risk assessment services linked to student
protests.
Internal documents reviewed by the outlets allegedly show that student activists and academics were referenced in monitoring reports. These include a Palestinian academic invited to speak at Manchester Metropolitan University and a pro-Palestinian PhD student at the London School of Economics (LSE).
The report also claims that the University of Bristol provided the company with details of protest groups it wanted to track, including pro-Palestinian and animal rights organisations, and received regular updates on campus protest activity. Student social media content was also reportedly compiled into daily briefings for university security teams.
Universities named in the investigation include the University of Oxford, Imperial College London, University College London (UCL), King’s College London (KCL), along with several others such as the University of Sheffield, University of Leicester, University of Nottingham and Cardiff Metropolitan University.
Universities defend practices
Several institutions have pushed back on claims that they were involved in surveillance of students. Imperial College London said it does not engage in student surveillance and that its use of Horus is limited to identifying potential security risks in the public domain.
The University of Sheffield said external “horizon scanning” is used to anticipate large-scale protests and ensure safety, adding it does not target individual students or discourage lawful activism. It also said no student data was shared with the firm.
The University of Oxford, UCL, KCL, Leicester and Nottingham did not respond to requests for comment, according to the investigation.
Horus Security Consultancy Limited, founded in 2006 by former British Army intelligence officer Jonathan Whiteley, describes itself as an intelligence firm specialising in open-source analysis.
Its parent company director, former Colonel Tim Collins, has previously linked pro-Palestinian protests to alleged foreign influence campaigns and has called for stricter action against foreign nationals involved in demonstrations.
The investigation states that there is no suggestion the activity was illegal.
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