Counterterrorism and Freedom of Information: What Stands in the Way of Data Access?

Data is difficult to access for researchers in the fields of terrorism and counterterrorism studies. This can be improved through using Freedom of Information Requests. However, these are under-utilised, and we know little about request success rates. This article investigates the use of FOI requests to get data on UK counterterrorism practice. We submitted requests to 55 local authorities asking them to release their information sharing policies for Prevent. We found that while FOI is a useful tool for gathering data, there are indications that requests are being improperly handled, and that centralization responses could increase the difficulty of accessing information.