Direct Communications Unit

2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF

Switchboard 020 7035 4848 Fax: 020 7035 4745 Textphone: 020 7035 4742

E-mail: [Home Office request email] Website: www.homeoffice.gov.uk

David Hansen

[FOI #4699 email]

Reference: T971/9

Dear Mr Hansen,

Thank you for your e-mail of 15/01/2009 16:53:32 in which you ask about the Internet Watch Foundation's database.

I regret to inform you that the Home Office does not hold the information that you have requested. The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is a self regulatory, independent charity that has no formal links with the Home Office. The IWF's press release regarding the Wikipedia webpage states that;

“A Wikipedia webpage was reported through the IWF's online reporting mechanism on 4 December 2008…The content was considered to be a potentially illegal indecent image of a child under the age of 18, hosted outside the UK. As such, in accordance with IWF procedures, the specific webpage was added to the IWF list.”

“Following representations from Wikipedia, IWF invoked its Appeals Procedure and has given careful consideration to the issues involved in this case. The procedure is now complete and has confirmed that the image in question is potentially in breach of the Protection of Children Act 1978. However, the IWF Board has today (9 December 2008) considered these findings and the contextual issues involved in this specific case and, in light of the length of time the image has existed and its wide availability, the decision has been taken to remove this webpage from our list.

Any further reported instances of this image which are hosted abroad, will not be added to the list. Any further reported instances of this image which are hosted in the UK will be assessed in line with IWF procedures.”

I am not sure to what database you refer. The IWF own a blacklist which is a live list of URL's which is updated twice daily. The following information has been taken from the IWF website;

“The IWF works with UK service providers to remove potentially illegal child sexual abuse content from the internet.  As a result of work by the IWF Internet Content Analysts the IWF produces a list of URLs containing potentially illegal child sexual abuse content hosted overseas. This list is made available to IWF members under licence so that they can develop technical solutions to prevent their users from being inadvertently exposed to this type of content.

The list is dynamic - updated twice a day - and typically, 50 `live' URLs with potentially illegal child sexual abuse content are added each day. As the URLs are precise websites or web pages, the risk of over-blocking or collateral damage is minimised. The list only contains URLs of websites and does not extend to other internet services, such as peer-2-peer networks, instant messaging or chat room activities.”

“IWF subscribing members are entitled to secure access to the list subject to legally binding license agreements, as are Law Enforcement Agencies and associated Hotlines who are members of INHOPE.”

The Home Office cannot comment on specific cases. Information will be shared with UK law enforcement to assist with the indentification of the victim and law enforcement will work with counterparts in Europe and Internationally.

If you are dissatisfied with this response you may request an independent internal review of our handling of your request by submitting your complaint within two months to the below address quoting reference 11123:

Information Rights Team

Information and Record Management Service

Home Office

4^th Floor, Seacole Building

2 Marsham Street

London

SW1P 4DF

Email: [email address]

During the independent review the department's handling of your information request will be reassessed by staff who were not involved in providing you with this response. Should you remain dissatisfied after this internal review, you will have a right of complaint to the Information Commissioner as established by section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act.

Yours sincerely

Stephanie Williams