Robbery and Street Crime Seminar

Section 29 of the Data Protection Act allows for personal data to be processed for any of the following purposes:

the prevention or detection of crime
the apprehension or prosecution of offenders or
the assessment or collection of any tax or duty or of any imposition of a similar nature
are exempt from the first data protection principle (except to the extent to which it requires compliance with the conditions in schedules 2 and 3) and section 7...

As guidance is not given on how to exchange the data, there is a clear need for a protocol which sets out the minimum standards from the beginning.

Section 115 of the Crime and Disorder Act seeks to increase disclosure for the purposes of the Act.

Need to know what is needed/available before you can ask a data holder for that data
Problems with incompatibility of data and/or duplication of data - data must also be accurate and up-to-date
Data should be adequate, relevant and not excessive
''Confidential data" is often not supplied at all simply because it has personal data included - in some cases de-personalised data can be used, but personalised data can be exchanged under agreed protocols and in line with the DPA exceptions. Some partnership areas have achieved good data exchange in tracking prolific offenders.

Rights of data subjects: subject access process must be clear
The issue of how long data should be stored for once collated (retention period) and who is responsible if data is compiled from various sources but held by one data owner needs to be covered in any protocol or single issue case.
Any move towards central storage of data will need a clear statement of management and responsibility.
Data loss or damage should be avoided
Requires a technical and organisational infrastructure based on minimum standards

Resources for further research:

Last update: 19/01/04

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