6 Aug 2019
The purpose of publishing cover names is to enable members of the public to identify whether they may have known officers who were deployed undercover and to prevent cases of mistaken identity.
When no application for a restriction order is made or an application has been unsuccessful, cover names are published as soon as the Inquiry has completed its pre-publication checks. These include checking whether the officer had asexual relationship during their deployment, or the name of a deceased person was used.
Sometimes it takes time to track down those who were affected, such as the relatives of a person whose identity was used. The Inquiry won’t publish cover names until it has made all reasonable efforts to contact those affected by the publication.
The cover names published so far are listed on the website.