The Met Police collected information on 18 justice campaigns - including that of Jean Charles de Menezes - a report into a now defunct unit has said.
Campaigns for two men shot dead by mistake in London - Mr Menezes and Harry Stanley - were among those targeted, the BBC understands.
Operation Herne - which reported back on the Special Demonstration Squad - cited a failure of senior management.
The Met said it regretted "enormously" the distress caused.
In his report into undercover operations, Operation Herne's lead Derbyshire Chief Constable Mick Creedon said undercover police had gathered information relating to 18 families and campaigns for justice over the course of 35 years.
He said his review had found the campaigns were "mentioned" in records held by the Metropolitan Police's - now disbanded - SDS.
'Very upsetting'The campaigns, from 1970 to 2005, were the result of deaths in police custody, deaths following contact with the police - including two shootings - and people who had been murdered.
Claims that police were instructed to find information that could discredit the family of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence are already being investigated.
The latest report has not named which campaigns were the subject of information gathering, but the BBC understands they include:
- Jean Charles de Menezes - shot dead when he was mistaken for a suicide bomber in 2005
- Harry Stanley - mistakenly shot dead by police in 1999
- Ricky Reel - campaigners say police failed to properly investigate his 1997 suspicious death
In each of these cases and others, Scotland Yard had come under intense media and community pressure amid allegations that police officers were not being held to account for alleged failings.
The lawyer for the Menezes family said she had been informed by the Met that information was gathered on them after the Brazilian's death.
They said the information was "very upsetting" and an "absolute disgrace to know the police were spying on us after everything we've been through".
They are considering legal action against Scotland Yard, they said.
It comes after the mother of Ricky Reel, found dead after a suspected racist attack in 1997, told BBC News she had been informed by an officer from Operation Herne that police had gathered intelligence on her in 1998 and 1999.
She called for a public inquiry into the spying claims, and told the BBC: "This was happening at a time we were feeling very low, we should have been left alone to grieve for our son, instead of being spied upon.
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"As soon as I heard it, the room started spinning and I felt sick."
One reference was to an unnamed individual planning to go to a funeral, even though "there was no intelligence to indicate that the funeral would have been anything other than a dignified event".
Mr Creedon said the gathering of information was "unavoidable" because undercover SDS officers were targeting groups that were seeking to align themselves with the campaigners or were present at meetings when information was shared.
But he said: "Unless the information could have prevented crime or disorder it should not have been retained."
Mr Creedon said it would be "distressing" for bereaved families to learn that the details were held, adding "this must seem inexplicable".
Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt, from Scotland Yard, said: "I regret enormously the distress that has been caused."
The report said: "It is quite clear that maintaining the secrecy of the unit and protecting the identity of the officers was of paramount importance to all involved - and in being so focused on this aspect the management of the SDS, of the Metropolitan Police Special Branch and ultimately the Metropolitan Police Executive Leadership of the day collectively failed."
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