University staff in the UK are fretting over a rash of Freedom of Information requests from an animal rights activist, the Guardian newspaper reports.

Luke Steele, who works at the Stop Animal Experiments at Bradford group, has apparently sent FOI requests to every university in Britain. He told the paper the information would be used to target demonstrations and publicise animal research.

This has some university staff worried, even though they are allowed to withhold sensitive details such as laboratory locations and much information on UK animal research is already in the public domain.

“This information can be used for intimidation,” says Syed Khawar Abbas, veterinary officer at the University of Leeds. “In the wrong hands, this information can cause problems for our scientists.”

Full story: Animal rights activist using FOI laws to target universities