Dear Mr Cook,
We write in response to your letter of the 24th June 2024, within which, you allege a number of data discrepancies within information held by Dorset Police about you. We apologise for the delay an acknowledge that we required an extension of timeframe to complete this assessment. The Record Deletion and Amendment (RDP) Process administered by the Dorset Police Records Management Unit have undertaken an assessment of your letter and should first highlight that as we are not a disclosure function and remain unable to acknowledge or otherwise corroborate any detail relating to third parties (individuals other than yourself). Each element of your request will now be addressed in turn.
You stated, “UNDER FOIA I REQUESTED ALL INFORMATION YOU HELD ON ME REF No 01/DPR/24/0006173.” To clarify, any access to your own personal data will have been under the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) by lodging a request under the Subject Access Provisions. There is a suggestion from your letter and fact that you have received a significant number of pages that have subsequently prompted this request. As it is not the remit of the RDP process to cover requests for personal data under the Subject Access Provisions; this point will not be discussed further within this letter.
Following on you then assert “Many of the files even tho on my file, contained no information as to why they were on file. A number of the files were about instances where I was actually the VICTIM of a crime against myself” and go on to describe how you feel they are misleading to any future investigator of your file(s). In answering these points we should also draw together questions number 1 and 2 in your letter. Namely where you request;
- All the files (28) should be erased as there can be no purpose for which the DPA collected or processed, all these files.
- I never gave my constent for any of them to be put onto any file on me.
Further to our RDP assessment, and without seeing the entries you are specifically referring to, we can say that any disclosure received would have been for you as the data subject. This means that you would be entitled to copies of information that Dorset Police may or may not hold on you; where you are either the victim, caller or otherwise. In answer to your point requesting reasons for holding information we cannot go into explanatory detail as that is not the remit of the RDP process, however, we can point you to the Dorset Police Privacy Notice available on our website and link this below.
Privacy notice | Dorset Police
We can see from your letter that you have an email address and so in the event you do have access to or the use of a computer you can either copy and paste the above link into your web browser, or enter the full website link as follows: https://www.dorset.police.uk/hyg/fpndorset/privacy-notice/
If either the link or full website address does not work, or you are unable to access a computer then you can request a printed copy of this notice in a suitable format to your home address via the Freedom of Information Office. Doing this by telephone can be initiated by calling 101 and asking for a copy of the Force Privacy Notice.
Whilst the legal purpose of our Privacy Notice is available to you via those means we will summarise the purpose within this letter by stating that the legal right of Dorset Police to collect and handle your data in a variety of circumstances is all outlined in detail within the Privacy Notice including grounds other than consent permitting us to collect and process your data. If you remain unhappy with how Dorset Police have processed your personal data you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioners Office. Contact details for which are listed below.
The Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House W
ater Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Helpline 0303 1231113 (Website http://www.ico.org.uk/concerns)
- I object to the processing of all those files as there was no ‘legitimate’ grounds for any of the files to be processed and kept from the 2001 date and the appearance of the first file to be seen and through to June of 2024. Or for that matter any files you have on me from dates prior to 2001.
In response to point 3 above; the Privacy Notice will again identify the grounds relied upon for processing so we will not address this element of point 3 any further. You refer to a date range of prior to 2001 – June 2024 and allude to files we may or may not hold prior to 2001. We are not a disclosure function so cannot confirm or deny exactly what is held applicable to such a date range. We can however state that your disclosures have been reviewed and our RDP process has failed to identify any records that do not fall within grounds of the aforementioned Privacy Notice. As such we cannot support any objection to processing.
- I must stress that at no date have I ever committd any criminal offence !! let alone being found guilty of same….so why do I even have a file on myself?????? Am I living in Russia or the UK???
Point 4 is not a question inviting a factual response but instead invites speculative comment or opinion. Similarly we are not an investigative function to assess the merit of a previous criminal investigation or criminal justice process that may or may not have taken place. The RDP Process will therefore not be responding to this point further other than to say we have chosen to place a copy of both your letter dated 24th June 2024 as well as this response letter upon your file to fully reflect the number of contextual comments you raise about information as a whole. We have also placed a flag upon your record drawing the attention of any persons who should have cause to read your record to consider your letter and our response.
- Needless to say if you still have any fingerprints of myself or DNA samples, I also wish them to be erased. (You should note that after the fiasco of my arrest in 2012, I requested that the fingerprints and DNA taken should be erased. However, I have no faith in the honesty of the DPA and would not be surprised they are still on file.
A check of our systems show references to your 2 x arrests and associated fingerprints either listed as not taken or destroyed.
- You even have on file details of [redacted] car a [redacted] – WHY?
To respond to this question would facilitate confirmation of a third party vehicle/third party individual. This is not the remit of the RDP process. Similarly, this does not specify either a request for deletion or…