Journalist guide on what to do if you think the PSNI has been spying on you

The revelation that the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) secretly harvested phone record data from journalist Barry McCaffrey inevitably raises concerns among other journalists about whether the police have acted similarly against them.

Barry McCaffrey only recently discovered the secret spying by the PSNI in 2013 following a complaint from his lawyer to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal following his and Trevor Birney’s successful court challenge to their 2018 arrest and the police seizure of computers, phones and records.

This guide outlines what to do you if you are a journalist or a human rights defender who has reason to believe or suspect that the PSNI has similarly – and potentially unlawfully – snooped on you and your phone data, possibly leading to the disclosure of your contacts or sources to the police.