Background

Thousands of innocent people are having their names placed on “watchlists” or “blacklists” without them having any knowledge that this is being done to them and without any form of legal representation.

At a regional level, this includes “lists” held by local authorities - such as the lists held by UK Councils which has been reported on twice by the Daily Mail (see 2 links below). These “lists” are then shared amongst services such as doctors, police, ambulance, fire, other local officials and services, and local employers.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2015332/Thousands-secret-council-blacklists-Personal-details-kept-residents-dare-complain.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1195399/Woman-branded-potentially-violent-council-complaining-damaged-flowerbed.html

At a national level, “lists” are held by national governments such as the Terrorist Screening Database (known as the TSDB or “terrorist watch list”) which is run by the Department of Homeland Security in America. These “lists” are then shared with other foreign governments, law enforcement agencies and other partners.  There are apparently around 2 million people on this terrorist watchlist.

https://www.axios.com/2023/12/14/terrorism-watchlist-two-million-people

How does someone get their name placed on these lists?

A person’s name can easily end up on of these “lists” - literally at the whim of someone else.

With the lists at a regional level, a person’s name can be added just because they have upset someone, or dared to speak out about something.  As the Daily Mail comments "Councils have wildly different criteria for placing people on the blacklist. Many are put there simply after a form is filled out by a member of staff and then rubber-stamped by a manager." https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2015332/Thousands-secret-council-blacklists-Personal-details-kept-residents-dare-complain.html

It’s much the same story for the far more serious “terrorist watchlists”. All it takes is some “reasonable suspicion” that you might be a threat. And this information can come from several areas, including everyday citizens. Essentially, you can be “nominated” to be put on such a list. Again, all it takes is you might have dared to speak out about something, you might have said something (including on social media), or you might have upset someone or got on the wrong side of someone, and your name can find its way onto the targeted lists. Even your family members (including your children) can be added to these lists even though they have also done nothing wrong!

Certainly, the current criteria for adding a person’s name to the TSDB is extremely dubious and extremely worrying to say the least. The system is most certainly open to abuse and is being abused. There are now reports of hundreds of thousands of innocent victims who are on the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB) and this figure is growing all the time as the database grows. The TSDB was originally meant to list dangerous individuals, not to list large swathes of the general population (including children) who are innocent.

Our concern is a simple one but a major one - These "watchlists" are no longer serving the purpose for what they were originally created for. Instead they are now being used as a weapon to criminalise normal, innocent people without cause.

https://www.aclu.org/documents/us-government-watchlisting-unfair-process-and-devastating-consequences

https://theintercept.com/2014/07/23/blacklisted/

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/terrorist-watch-list_n_5617599  

https://abcnews.go.com/US/terrorist-watch-list-works/story?id=39931316

 

Does an Individual know they have been placed on such a list?

The simple answer is no they don’t.

The individual affected does not know they have been placed on such a list – it just happens to them. There’s no notification process to let an individual know that they are now being watched / scrutinised / blacklisted.

In fact, a lot of individuals don’t even know these “lists” even exist until they are made aware of it through changes in their own individual circumstances. 

 

What are the consequences for individuals who are included on these “watchlists”?

The consequences can be devastating and life-changing. Individuals can:

·       Be barred from access to normal opportunities, including work opportunities.

·       Have their reputations damaged / destroyed.

·       Be denied proper help from the Police, medical professionals and other services.

·       Be forced to move to a different town or country.

·       Be restricted from travelling.

·       Be subject to increased levels of surveillance.

·       Have their personal lives badly damaged (relationships with family and friends become far more challenging).

·       Suffer personally with their mental health and physical health.

·       Have their fundamental human rights eroded and destroyed.

There is a growing community called the “Targeted Individual” community who are also calling for these “lists” to be investigated / changed. 

This community is largely ignored by the authorities and by the media, but the innocent victims which make up this community all report being subject to the same things:

·       Being gang stalked which is where they are harassed by an organised network of people (a form of “community policing”).

·       Their individual reputations are destroyed (character assassination).

·       Their personal lives with family and friends are made far more challenging.

·       They are blocked access to normal opportunities, including work opportunities.

·       They are denied any help from the Police, medical professionals and other services.

·       Being forced to move to a different town or country.

·       Being subject to hugely increased levels of surveillance.

·       In some cases, being subject to the use of energy directed weapons.

·       Their mental health and physical health is hugely affected.

·       They are stripped of their fundamental human rights.

 

What forms of Redress are available for people who are on these “watchlists”?

Currently, the forms of redress available to individuals are virtually non-existent.

At a regional level, as seen in the Daily Mail case, the individual concerned had to seek her own form of redress through legal channels which cost half a million pounds (£500,000) in legal fees just for her name to be removed from such a list. Such is the expense of proper legal representation that this route is essentially out of reach of the vast majority of citizens.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1195399/Woman-branded-potentially-violent-council-complaining-damaged-flowerbed.html

At a national level, with the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB) for example, the challenge is even worse. Such lists are declared highly sensitive and are never published, so once you are on the “list” you can essentially be on it for life.  Even when you die, your name is still not expunged. 

Using data protection laws, victims are rightly submitting data access requests to try and find out what information is being held against them and whether they are on a list / database, but they are presented with obstacles and they don’t really get anywhere. A worrying trend seems to be developing where data protection laws, because of loopholes, are not sufficient anymore for obtaining your own personal data which is held about you. 

Let's take Europol as an example. You can apply to Eurpol to ask what personal data they hold about you and you can ask for that data to be erased. But there are loopholes which mean they have not got to provide you with your data and they can restrict it from you. You can then lodge a complaint with them, but it can be restricted from you again. So, your last port of call is to take it to the European Court of Justice but this process can take years and you will need lawyer representation - a very costly process most likely out of reach of lots of people -  https://www.europol.europa.eu/right-of-access.

Currently, the only form of very limited redress there is for the TSDB is something called the DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (or DHS TRIP). If you’ve had problems when travelling such as at airports, border crossings and other points of entry, a person can submit this form but it is only a “potential” form of redress and there is no indication or guarantee that anything will change for the person when they are travelling. The person will still not find out whether they are on a list or not.

 

What are the changes we want to see?

We want large numbers of innocent human beings who have been placed on these lists to be removed from them. Their fundamental human rights must be restored. 

Furthermore, safeguards must be put in place to stop these lists / databases being abused – they were designed to list dangerous individuals, not for listing large swathes of the general public (including children).

We're now living in a digital age where more and more of our personal data and information is being shared and used unscrupulously. As we move forwards, there's going to be more databases, not less. One example being the new EU ETIAS database which is due online in 2025. It is absolutely vital therefore (for peoples' basic human rights) that appropriate safeguards and mechanisms are put in place to protect them going forwards. We have got to get this right and do this now before it's too late and before it completely overruns human rights worldwide and the rights to democracy that we should all expect.

These are the main changes we want to see:

• The “name” and “purpose” of which watchlists / databases are being held by regional and national authorities need to be declared and made formally public (i.e. their existence needs to be made public - there should be no secret lists anymore). 
  
  
• There needs to be precise (crystal clear) criteria in place setting out how individuals can be placed on these lists / databases. This criterion needs to be made public. Furthermore, the ‘criteria bar’ needs to be made much higher. Lists are currently being used and abused as a channel for adding someone’s name to them at the whim of someone else. This needs to stop. There needs to be concrete evidence that someone is a real danger and this needs to completely fulfil the new criteria for adding someone’s name to a list. Lists should be used for dangerous individuals, not for adding large numbers of innocent human beings. 
  
  
• Individuals must be informed when they are added to a list / database. Furthermore, information must be provided to the Individual as to why they have been added to it.
  
  
• There needs to be an impartial and comprehensive review of existing lists / databases with a view to removing large swathes of innocent people from them. The fundamental human rights of these innocent victims must be restored.
  
  
• There needs to be a simple redress system (mechanism) in place so that (a) individuals can find out whether they are on a list / database and (b) contest that their name be removed. This system needs to be free of charge. (Important note: This new system must include being able to search the actual live lists being used by the authorities and not some amended or altered list where names have been removed. It must be the live, original list which is open for searching against. This must be made law and this system must be overseen by a regulatory body which has the power to do this. It is absolutely vital that there is trust in the system and that it is guaranteed).
  
  
• The individual needs to be informed of what evidence is being held on the “list” against them including (where possible) where the “nomination” came from to place that individual on such a “list”. This information is vital so that individuals can not only challenge their inclusion on a list, but also to be able to seek an appropriate channel of legal compensation for their wrongful inclusion on such a list and the personal damages which they have suffered because of it.

 

What Can I do to Support?

Please sign this Petition. That is the main thing you can do. Please don’t click away from this petition until you have signed it. We really appreciate every single signature we get. This system needs to be substantially overhauled.

Visit www.targetedindividuals.co.uk to keep up to date with other news.