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Thank you for expressing interest in sharing your experiences with Crest

Click here to be involved

Below is an overview of the research and all the information you need to know to take part in the anonymous survey.


Crest Advisory, on behalf of UK Policing, is researching the social and emotional impacts of deepfakes, or synthetic media, on victims and survivors - particularly women and girls. This is when a person’s image or likeness has been taken and artificially manipulated or altered to create intimate and / or sexual content without their consent. That content may have been shared with others. 

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We are inviting victims and survivors who have been impacted by deepfakes to participate in an anonymous survey to share their experience. 

 

This survey will ask you about:

 

  • The impact that deepfake intimate image abuse has had for you 

  • Your decision to report or not report the deepfake content 

  • Your awareness of, and experience of accessing, support, information and advice services 

 

Sharing your experiences with us will help us to understand the social and emotional impact of deepfakes. The findings from this research will inform the development of guidance for police forces to improve how they support and protect victims and survivors of deepfake violence against women and girls. 

 

If you would like to share your feedback with us via survey, please click here. 

 

Please note this survey is anonymous, which means that anything you share will not be attributed to you and no one will know that you have taken part in this research.

 

Please be aware that by sharing your experiences with Crest in this survey, the crime will not be reported to the police. If you would like to report a crime, please call the police directly. 

 

If you have any questions or would like more information, please email the Crest Advisory project lead at jessica.hull@crestadvisory.com 

 

What if I need support? ​

 

These subjects can be upsetting and we want to make sure you are supported if they have affected you directly.​

 

If you are in danger or in need of immediate medical care, call the emergency services on 999.

The following organisations can offer support:

 

  • Revenge Porn Helpline:
    The Revenge Porn Helpline is a UK service supporting adults (aged 18+) who are experiencing intimate image abuse, also known as revenge porn. The Helpline is open from 10:00 to 16:00 Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays) at 0345 6000 459.
    https://revengepornhelpline.org.uk/ 

 

  • National Ugly Mugs (NUM):
    NUM is a UK-wide charity working with sex workers to do research, design and deliver safety tools and to provide support services to people in adult industries. Call 0800 464 7669 or live chat on the Contact Us page on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1-3pm.
    https://nationaluglymugs.org/ 

 

  • Rape Crisis:
    The Rape Crisis national helpline supports survivors aged 13+ or those supporting them. The Rape Crisis helpline is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
    Call free on 0808 500 2222. Rape Crisis also provide a webchat service for women and girls aged 16+.
    https://rapecrisis.org.uk/get-help/want-to-talk/ 

 

 

  • National Stalking Helpline:
    Call the National Stalking helpline on 0808 802 0300 (open 9.30am – 4pm every weekday apart from Wednesdays, when it is open from 9.30am – 8pm). You can also email them here.
    https://www.suzylamplugh.org/am-i-being-stalked-tool 

 

  • Galop:
    Galop’s free helpline is for LGBT+ people experiencing abuse or violence, including hate crime, domestic abuse, sexual violence or so-called “conversion therapy”. Call 0800 999 5428 from 10am to 8:30pm Monday – Thursday or from 10am to 4:30pm on Fridays, or use their webchat service.
    https://galop.org.uk/get-help/helplines/  

 

  • Imkaan:
    Imkaan isn’t a direct service provider. Imkaan support and work closely with frontline organisations dedicated to offering tailored and culturally specific support.
    https://www.imkaan.org.uk/get-help 

 

  • Victim Support:
    Victim Support is an independent charity dedicated to supporting victims of crime and traumatic incidents in England and Wales. Call 08 08 16 89 111 or enter their live chat, which is available 24/7
    https://www.victimsupport.org.uk/ 

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What are the benefits of taking part?

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Sharing your experiences with us will help us to understand the social and emotional impact of deepfakes. The findings from this research will be kept anonymous, meaning anything you share will not be attributed to you and no one will know that you have taken part in this research. These findings will inform the development of guidance for police forces to improve how they support and protect victims and survivors of deepfake violence against women and girls. 
 

What will happen to the results of the research?

 

We will analyse the results from this survey alongside:

 

  • Interviews with other victims and survivors of deepfake VAWG;

  • Interviews with practitioners who support victims and survivors;

  • Engagement with experts in VAWG and deepfake technology; 

  • Existing research and evidence surrounding the impacts of deepfake VAWG on victims and survivors.

 

In partnership with the NPCC VAWG Taskforce, we will use these findings to develop guidance for policing to better support victims of deepfakes.
 

About the researchers

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Crest Advisory is a consultancy, think-tank, and inquiries practice that are experts in crime, justice, and public safety. 

We have extensive experience in supporting victims and survivors in the justice system, such as our work for the HMIC Criminal Justice Victims’ Inspection and the London Victims Strategic Needs Assessment. We have extensive experience understanding and informing actions to tackle VAWG. We have supported the co-design of and authored the 4P Policing Framework on VAWG and we developed and drafted the National Policing Statement. 

 

The Office of the Police Chief Scientific Advisor is a unit within the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), which oversees policing’s use of science and technology. 

 

Privacy Notice 

 

At Crest Advisory, we want to protect and respect your privacy. This privacy notice tells you how we will collect and use (process) your personal data as part of this project. When being invited to participate, alongside this privacy notice, you will be given further details about the project and what taking part will involve.

 

Contact details 

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Crest Advisory (UK) Ltd is the data processor of your personal data collected for this research. The Accelerated Capability Environment (ACE) is the data controller, and has commissioned Crest to complete this research. If you have any questions about this privacy notice, including any requests to exercise your legal rights in relation to your personal data, please contact our Data Protection Officer (DPO): 

 

Post: Crest Advisory, 2 Bath Place, London, EC2A 3DA

Email: contact@crestadvisory.com

 

If you have any questions about the project, please contact the project leads: 

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What information are we processing?

 

If you take part in this survey, we may process the following personal data:

 

  • Age

  • Gender

  • Ethnicity 

  • Your thoughts/experiences/opinions about the social and emotional impacts of deepfakes, and barriers and enablers to reporting deepfake VAWG

 

Your participation in this survey is anonymous, meaning it will not be linked to your personal identity. By completing the survey, you are agreeing to us analysing your answers and using the anonymous findings in our report. Because they are anonymous, we will not be able to delete your responses after you have submitted them.

 

What is our lawful basis for processing your data?  

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As the data controller of your data, Crest will process your personal data in accordance with:

  • Consent (as per Article 6 (1) (a) of the GDPR) - “the data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data for one or more specific purposes”

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Who will have access to your information? 

 

Your information will be seen and used (processed) by a limited number of staff in the Crest team who are working on this project. At all times, your data will be treated as in line with the Data Protection Act (2018) and UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the laws that are important for data protection. Crest’s systems store data within data centres within Europe (United Kingdom, Ireland, Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, and Belgium).

 

What will we do with your data? 

 

The data collected will be used for this project only. The anonymised findings (meaning that you cannot be identified) will be used to build guidance which will be shared with policing, and a report shared with OPSCA and ACE in June. 

 

We will keep your data only for as long as is needed to complete the relevant project tasks, and your personal information will be securely deleted within six months of the project end date (estimated in June 2025). 

 

Crest will retain reports containing anonymised quotes, which are not considered to be personal data.

 

Your rights 

 

Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data, including rights to: 

 

  • Request access to your personal data: this enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check we are lawfully processing it. 

  • Request correction of your personal data: this enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you corrected. 

  • Request erasure of your personal data: this enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. 

  • Object to processing of your personal data: for example, you can object where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms. 

  • Request restriction of processing your personal data: This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your personal data. 

  • Data portability: Where the processing takes place on the basis of your consent or contract, and is carried out by automated means, you have the right to request that we provide your personal data to you in a machine-readable format, or transmit it to a third party data controller, where technically feasible.

  • Right to withdraw consent to the processing of your personal data: This applies where we have relied on consent to process personal data. Please note that withdrawal of consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before withdrawing your consent. 

  • Right not to be subject to decisions based purely on automated processing where it produces a legal or similarly significant effect on you. 

 

If you want to request any of the above, please contact our Data Protection Officer (DPO): 

 

 

Please also note that we can only respond to the above during the period for which we hold personal information that directly identifies you. If we have only collected information where we have not collected any names or contact details, or personal data has been anonymised and has become part of the research dataset, it will not be possible for us to action your request. If you have any questions or concerns about the collection, use or disclosure of your personal information, please contact our data protection officer on the contact details provided above

 

You have a right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (https://ico.org.uk/), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues. We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please consider contacting us first.

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