An anti-terrorism scheme aimed at preventing people from being lured into extremism has been branded a cover for "spying" on innocent citizens.
The intelligence is being gathered as part of the Government's £140m-a-year project called Preventing Violent Extremism (Prevent).
It was launched three years ago to try to stop British Muslims from becoming extremists and committing acts of terrorism.
But in a highly critical report based on interviews with teachers and community workers, the Institute of Race Relations said the scheme "spies" on innocent young Muslims.
It says the project is trying to turn community, religious and voluntary groups into information or intelligence providers.
Among the details being sought were political and religious views, mental health conditions and sex lives as well as criminal records and evidence of alleged offences, the report said.
Turning public services into "instruments of surveillance" risked alienating young people from the very institutions best placed to meet the stated aim of the project to keep them out of the clutches of extremism, the report added.
The report's author, Arun Kundnani, said: "The stated aim of the Government's counter-terrorist strategy is to enable people to 'go about their lives freely and with confidence'.
"The question we pose in this report is whether freedom and confidence for the majority can be enabled by imposing a lack of freedom and confidence on a minority - in this case, the Muslim population of Britain."
The Government and police have repeatedly denied claims the programme is being used "to establish one of the most elaborate systems of surveillance ever seen in Britain".
A Home Office spokesman said: "Any suggestion that Prevent is about spying is simply wrong.
"Prevent is about working with communities to protect vulnerable individuals and address the root causes of radicalisation."
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