BNP membership list

Dear Mark Walker,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 2009-494

I write in connection with your request for information which was received
by Dorset Police on the 9th November 2009. I note you seek access to the
following information:

1.Please tell me if Dorset Police has processed any data relating

to the leaked British National Party membership list.

2. Please tell me which of the conditions in Schedule 2 and

Schedule 3 were met when processing sensitive personal data?

3. Has sensitive personal data been used for any purposes other

Than comparing against the Dorset Police personnel database?

4. Who was responsible for the decision to compare sensitive

Personnel data against Dorset Police Police's personnel data?

5. What were the grounds for such a decision?

6. I request the minutes of any meeting held to come to such a

decision.

7. Please describe the process used in making such a decision and

whether the consequences of this decision, if any, were assessed.

Your request will now be considered in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (the Act). You will receive a response within the
statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act. In some
circumstances Dorset Police may be unable to achieve this deadline. If
this is likely you will be informed and given a revised timescale at the
earliest opportunity.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Dorset Police.

Should you have any further inquiries concerning this matter, please write
or contact me on telephone number 01202 223402 quoting the reference
number above.

Yours sincerely

Lucianne Pharoah

Freedom of Information Officer

Professional Standards Department

Dorset Police Headquarters

Winfrith, Dorchester. DT2 8UU

Tel. 01305 223402

Fax. 01305 223771

Email. [email address]

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Dear Mark Walker,

I write in response to your request for information, listed below, and
received on the 9^th November 2009. You asked:

Please provide the following information under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000.

In November 2008 the membership list of the British National Party (BNP)
was published online. On September 1, 2009 a disgruntled former official
Matt Single was convicted in relation to this for offences under the Data
Protection Act.

I refer to Schedule 1 of The Data Protection Principles.

Under Schedule 1, any use of 'sensitive personal data' must be processed
only when at least one of the conditions in Schedule 2 is met, and at
least one of the conditions in Schedule 3 is also met.

1. Please tell me if Dorset Police has processed any data relating to the
leaked British National Party membership list.

Dorset Police did process data from this list, which was published on
several websites.

2. Please tell me which of the conditions in Schedule 2 and Schedule 3
were met when processing sensitive personal data?

I can recover no documents that we hold that address this particular
issue. The Freedom of Information Act is concerned with information that
is held by a public authority. I am therefore not obliged to generate new
information to provide legal comment on this issue.

3. Has sensitive personal data been used for any purposes other than
comparing against the Dorset Police personnel database?

Dorset Police regularly processes the sensitive personal information of
staff and the persons that we deal with in the course of our work.
Assuming that you refer specifically to the BNP membership list, risk
assessments were carried out on the local names and addresses mentioned in
the list to consider whether any policing action was required related to
our public safety role.

4. Who was responsible for the decision to compare sensitive personnel
data against Dorset Police's personnel data?

Assuming again that you refer to the personal data on the BNP membership
list, the Deputy Chief Constable Mr Chris Lee would have had overall
responsibility for such decisions.

5. What were the grounds for such a decision?

I can recover no documents or records that we hold that address this
issue.

6. I request the minutes of any meeting held to come to such a decision.

I have been unable to locate any record of a meeting held to specifically
address issues in relation to the BNP membership list. I have located a
suggestion that the list should be checked in our Professional Standards
Board meeting of 19^th November 2008. This was a minuted suggestion and a
very small part of the meeting. I have removed the rest of the content of
the minutes since they are mainly unsuitable for release and I assume that
this release meets the needs of our request. The edited minute is in the
attached PDF.

7. Please describe the process used in making such a decision and whether
the consequences of this decision, if any, were assessed.

I can find no records that relate to this question and as I have indicated
above there is no requirement under the Act for me to develop one here.

Dorset Police provides you the right to request a re-examination of your
case under its review procedure. If you decide to request such a review
you should address your request to the Head of the Professional Standards
Department, Dorset Police Headquarters, Winfrith, Dorchester, Dorset DT2
8DZ, or email [1][Dorset Police request email] . You have a further right to
ask the Information Commissioners Office to decide whether or not your
request has been appropriately dealt with, but they will not consider your
complaint until the Dorset Police Review Procedure has been concluded.

Yours sincerely

Keith Campbell

Freedom of Information Manager

Professional Standards Department

Dorset Police Headquarters

Winfrith, Dorchester. DT2 8DZ.

Tel. 01305 223590

Fax.01305 223771

email [2][email address]

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