NORTHUMBRIA POLICE
Data Protection Factsheet
"How data protection affects me"
1.What are my rights under data protection?
The Data Protection Act 1998 gives you the right to see the personalinformation held about you by Northumbria Police. This is known as the rightof 'subject access'.
You also have a right to have inaccurate data corrected, destroyed, blocked orerased, and to seek compensation for any damage or distress caused to youby such inaccuracy. Inaccurate data means information which is incorrect, ormisleading about any matter of fact. You can apply to a court for an order toenforce this right.
2.How do I make a request to Northumbria Police?
You should contact the 'Disclosure Section' at NorthumbriaPolice Headquarters who will forward you the relevant form. The form will askyou to provide further details to help us confirm your identity so that we areable to locate your records. Any additional information you may have wouldbe useful and should be attached to the form on a separate sheet.
Any additional information helps us to locate your information quickly so thatwe can respond to you in a timely manner. You may submit your request bypost.
Details for Northumbria Police Headquarters are given at the end of this factsheet.
3.What does it cost to make a request?
Northumbria Police charge £10.00 for processing personal information, chequesor postal orders should be made payable to “Northumbria Police”.
4.How long does it take?
We have 40 calendar days to answer your request, counting from the date wereceive your request.
5.What if my request is refused?
Northumbria Police are allowed refuse your request if:
- disclosing the information would also mean giving out information aboutsomeone else, or identifying them as the source of confidentialinformation. (In this situation, Northumbria Police is not obliged to grantyour request unless the other person has consented to their informationbeing disclosed, or it is reasonable in the circumstance to answer therequest without their consent).
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- disclosing the information would be likely to prejudice the prevention ordetection of crime, or the apprehension or prosecution of offenders.
If you believe your request has been refused wrongly, you should contact theInformation Commissioner's Office for further advice.
6.What if the information I am given is wrong?
If Northumbria Police are holding incorrect information about you, you have aright to have that information corrected, erased, destroyed or blocked fromfurther disclosure. If the inaccuracy of the data has caused you damage ordistress, you have a right to seek compensation from us. If we refuse tocorrect or destroy the information, you can apply to a court for an orderrequiring us to do so. The court will only grant an order if the information isincorrect or misleading about any fact (not opinions). For further assistance incorrecting inaccurate data or seeking compensation, you should contact theInformation Commissioner's Office.
7.Can I get information about other people from Northumbria Police and can they get information about me?
You can only access other people's personal information if you are acting ontheir behalf, and if they have given you their permission for us to discloseinformation to you in that way. It is up to Northumbria Police to ensure thatthey have proper evidence of that permission before disclosing anyinformation.
We will not assume that any individual has permission to discuss a person'sbusiness or personal affairs with their spouse, partner or friend, unless wehave formally been notified that the individual is content for them to do so.
In the same way, other people, including Solicitors can only access yourinformation if they are acting on your behalf and you have given your specificpermission for any personal information held to be disclosed to them, wewould require documentary evidence to support this before disclosure of anyinformation.
The Freedom of Information Act does not override the Data Protection Act -Freedom of Information cannot be used to get personal information aboutpeople other than the applicant.
8.Can Northumbria Police use, disclose or sell my information without my consent?
Northumbria Police may only use information about you for purposes whichare consistent with those for which we held the information in the first place.
In general, we hold personal information for 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 asimilar nature.
It is not always necessary under the Data Protection Act for us to obtain yourconsent before disclosing information about you. Whether or not we will everneed to do this will depend on the particular circumstances in which theinformation is being processed. Northumbria Police will be open with youabout how we intend to use your personal information. However, there arecertain situations in which we are not required to do this, for example, where:
- the disclosure is for the purposes of preventing or detecting crime, and complying with the openness requirement would be likely to prejudicethose purposes; or
- where the disclosure is required by law or by a court order.
9.Does the Act stop the police from getting access to personal information?
No. The Act is flexible, and has a number of exceptions from the general rulesrestricting the gathering and use of personal information to enable otherimportant functions like preventing or detecting crime, and apprehending orprosecuting offenders. Northumbria Police are well aware of these exceptions,and we use them regularly. The Act does not stop the disclosure of personalinformation to the police when we need that information for any lawenforcement functions.
The Act also allows the disclosure of information when it is required by a courtorder, or it is for the purposes of (or in connection with) legal proceedings orobtaining legal advice. This may, for example, enable you to get basicpersonal information about other people if you are taking legal action againstthem.
10.Where can I get advice/help with my own case?
The Information Commissioner's Office can offer individual advice about yourown circumstances. You can contact them at:
The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545745 (General Enquiries)
11.How do I complain if I think Northumbria Police is not complying with the Act?
In the first instance, you should write to The Disclosure Section Unit atNorthumbria Police Headquarters and explain your concerns. If the problem isnot resolved in this way, you should contact the Information Commissioner'sOffice, who have the powers to investigate the complaint, and may take legalaction against us if we are in breach of the Act.
12.What if I'm not happy with the way the Information Commissioner handles my complaint?
The Parliamentary Ombudsman can investigate complaints about theCommissioner. See the Ombudsman's website for more details.
The Commissioner is independent of government, and reports directly toParliament. Ministers and government departments (including theDepartment of Constitutional Affairs) cannot investigate the Commissioner'shandling of complaints, nor comment more generally on the advice orstandards of service provided by his office.
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Useful Contacts for Northumbria Police:
Disclosure Section
Northumbria Police
4th Floor Cobalt Business Exchange
Cobalt Business Way
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE28 9NZ
Telephone: 101 (ext 49442 or 49443)
Email:
General Contacts:
The Information Commissioners Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545745
Email:
The Parliamentary and Health ServiceOmbudsman
MillbankTower
Millbank
London
SWIP 4QP
Telephone: 0845 015 4033
Email:
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