{"id":561,"date":"2020-06-02T07:49:11","date_gmt":"2020-06-02T07:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.declassifieduk.org\/revealed-the-uks-largest-intelligence-agency-is-infiltrating-british-schools\/"},"modified":"2022-03-01T22:49:51","modified_gmt":"2022-03-01T22:49:51","slug":"revealed-the-uks-largest-intelligence-agency-is-infiltrating-british-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.declassifieduk.org\/revealed-the-uks-largest-intelligence-agency-is-infiltrating-british-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"REVEALED: The UK’s largest intelligence agency is infiltrating British schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

Declassified UK<\/span><\/i> can reveal that Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), Britain\u2019s largest intelligence agency, has gained access to at least 22,000 primary and secondary school children in dozens of UK schools, and that the organisation may be spying on children.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

GCHQ officers are operating in at least one school, while parents of pupils at schools across the programme do not appear to have been informed about the <\/span>extent of the spy agency\u2019s role in it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Evidence also <\/span>suggests <\/span>that quotes purporting to be from children praising the programme have been manufactured.<\/span><\/p>\n

Further, GCHQ\u2019s <\/span>Cyber Schools Hub (CSH) <\/span>programme, <\/span>also known as <\/span>CyberFirst<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>appears to be disseminating propaganda to school children, telling them it acts as the \u201cheart of the nation\u2019s security\u201d. This is controversial, given that GCHQ\u2019s <\/span>programmes of mass surveillance<\/span> have been found to be unlawful by the European Court of Human Rights and that the agency also conducts offensive cyber operations<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>stated purpose<\/span><\/a> of the CSH programme is to enable secondary school children aged 11 to 17 years old near GCHQ\u2019s base in Cheltenham to \u201cexperience new ways of learning in an innovative cyber environment\u201d. It also aims to recruit children for jobs in the sector by helping to \u201c<\/span>educate on the opportunities that exist within the cyber security and computing industry\u201d.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, <\/span>Declassified<\/span><\/i> can reveal that the programme \u2014 which has been running since 2018 \u2014 has expanded into primary schools, where students range from 4 to 11 years old. While programme literature admits that the project includes 23 schools, <\/span>Declassified<\/span><\/i> has found that nearly double this number are involved, including more than 10 primary schools.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n