LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM — Twelve British universities paid private firm Horus Security Consultancy Limited at least 440,000 pounds since 2022 to monitor student protesters and academics, including those who expressed solidarity with Palestine. The firm, run by former military intelligence officials, trawled student social media feeds and conducted counter-terror threat assessments for some of Britain's elite universities.

The institutions that paid Horus to monitor campus protest activity included the University of Oxford, Imperial College London, University College London, King's College London, the University of Sheffield, the University of Leicester, the University of Nottingham, and Cardiff Metropolitan University. In total, the firm was paid 443,943 pounds between January 2022 and March 2025. There is no suggestion that the activity is illegal.

A Palestinian academic invited to give a guest lecture at Manchester Metropolitan University was monitored by Horus, as was a pro-Gaza PhD student at the London School of Economics. In October 2024, the University of Bristol provided Horus with a list of student protest groups it wished to receive alerts about, including pro-Palestinian and animal rights activists.

Horus was established in 2006 as a project within the University of Oxford's security team. In 2020, Colonel Tim Collins became a director of Horus's parent company and is listed on the firm's website as one of four senior leaders. Collins publicly blamed the rising number and size of pro-Gaza demonstrations in Western countries on a "Russian/Iranian orchestrated media campaign" and called for non-British protesters to be deported from the UK.

The company offers a service called "Insight," providing clients with open-source intelligence reports compiled using a tool it has developed to harvest sources on the internet. According to its website, Horus has been integrating AI into its operations since 2022.

"The use of AI to harvest and analyse student data under the guise of open source intelligence raises profound legal concerns," said Gina Romero, UN special rapporteur for freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. Romero said AI harvesting allows disproportionate amounts of student data to be collected by companies free from public scrutiny and used for purposes students cannot foresee.

"It is shameful that institutions have wasted hundreds of thousands of pounds spying on their own students," said Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union. Al Jazeera English and Liberty Investigates submitted freedom of information requests to more than 150 universities as part of the investigation.

The University of Sheffield said it used external services to horizon scan for issues such as large-scale upcoming protests, did not share student data with Horus or brief the firm to monitor individuals, and said its priority is to maintain a safe environment while supporting lawful protest. Imperial College London said the services it pays Horus for do not constitute the surveillance of students, that it uses Horus to help identify potential security risks to its community, and that all information used by Horus is drawn from the public domain.

Seven of Horus's university clients refused freedom of information requests for copies of the briefings they received. Horus did not respond to questions about the allegations. The firm states on its website that it adheres to "the strongest ethics in whatever we do, and are fully transparent and legally compliant in whatever territory we operate in."