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22-04-2026
LONDON: Twelve British universities paid a private firm run by former military intelligence officials to “spy” on student protesters and academics, including those who have expressed solidarity with Palestine, it can be revealed.
A joint investigation by media and Liberty Investigates has uncovered evidence that Horus Security Consultancy Limited trawled through student social media feeds and conducted secret counter-terror threat assessments on behalf of some of Britain’s most elite institutions.
Horus, which describes itself as a “leading intelligence” firm, has been paid at least 440,000 pounds ($594,000) by universities since 2022.
Among those monitored were a Palestinian academic invited to give a guest lecture at Manchester Metropolitan University and a pro-Gaza PhD student at the London School of Economics, according to internal documents.
In October 2024, the University of Bristol provided the firm with a list of student protest groups it wished to receive alerts about, an internal university email suggests. It included pro-Palestinian and animal rights activists.
In total, 12 universities paid the firm to monitor campus protest activity. Others include the University of Oxford, Imperial College London, University College London (UCL), King’s College London (KCL), the University of Sheffield, the University of Leicester, the University of Nottingham and Cardiff Metropolitan University.
There is no suggestion that this activity is illegal.
These findings have come to light after media reports and Liberty Investigates submitted freedom of information (FOI) requests to more than 150 universities.
All the institutions named in this article were approached for comment by media and Liberty Investigates.
The University of Oxford, UCL, KCL, the University of Leicester and the University of Nottingham did not respond to requests for comment.
The University of Sheffield said it used external services to “horizon scan” for issues which may affect the university, such as large-scale upcoming protests, and that it was “incorrect” to suggest this was intended to discourage activism. It added that it did not share student data with Horus or brief it to monitor individuals, and its priority is to maintain a safe environment while supporting lawful protest.
Imperial College London denied that the services it pays Horus for constitute the surveillance of students. It similarly said it is committed to free speech and that it uses Horus to “help identify potential security risks to its community, which might include protest activity within the vicinity of its campuses. All this information is drawn from the public domain”.
Horus was established in 2006 as a project within the University of Oxford’s security team by former Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Whiteley, who boasts a “23-year career running security, intelligence and counter-intelligence operations all over the world”, according to the company’s website.
In 2020, Colonel Tim Collins became a director of its parent company. He is currently listed on the website as one of four senior leaders of the company who “bring all of [their] extraordinary experience and expertise to Horus, on behalf of our clients”, and has given multiple speeches at conferences for university security teams on behalf of the firm. In recent years, he has publicly blamed the rising number and size of pro-Gaza demonstrations in Western countries on a “Russian/Iranian orchestrated media campaign”. He has further called for non-British protesters “who misbehave” to be deported from the UK.
The firm was paid a total of 443,943 pounds ($587,399) between January 2022 and March 2025 to provide intelligence to universities in the UK on a range of areas. (Int’l News Desk)
