other already existing powers under the guise of legislative rationalisation. One of the principles at its core is a preventative rather than punitive approach terrorism and serious crime supported by the idea of security as central to the national interest. Big data is gathered by and on behalf of the state and utilised to monitor, predict and prosecute preparatory activities. In so doing, a variety of forms of freedom are curtailed. This paper explores the ways in which this reconfigures the idea of freedom in the 21st century, blending approaches from public law and political theory. It suggests security is now privileged over freedom rather than being sought to pursue it. This unnecessarily restricts even negative liberty and has little recognition of the impact on autonomy and agency