Breaches of Data Protection Act and GDPR by Look Ahead.

Caroline Airley made this Freedom of Information request to Information Commissioner's Office This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was refused by Information Commissioner's Office.

Dear Information Commissioner's Office,

This request relates to a body by the name of Look Ahead. For clarity it has a head office at King's Buildings, 16 Smith Square, London SWIP 3HQ.

This concern breaches data protection regulations repeatedly.

Please advise how many complaints the ICO has received about breaches of data protection regulations by Look Ahead in each of the past 6 years. How many of these were upheld?

Yours faithfully,

Caroline Airley

Information Access Inbox, Information Commissioner's Office

Thank you for contacting the Information Commissioner’s Office. We confirm
that we have received your correspondence.

If you have made a request for information held by the ICO we will contact
you as soon as possible if we need any further information to enable us to
answer your request. If we don't need any further information we will
respond to you within our published, and statutory, service levels. For
more information please visit:

[1]https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/our-inf...

If you have raised a new information rights concern - we aim to send you
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If you are concerned about the way an organisation is handling your
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webpage ‘raising a concern with an organisation’ (go to our homepage and
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If you have requested advice - we aim to respond within 14 days. 

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If there is anything you would like to discuss with us, please call our
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Yours sincerely

The Information Commissioner’s Office

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References

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Information Commissioner's Office

2 September 2019

 

Case Reference Number IRQ0869096

 

Dear C Airley

Request for Information
 
Thank you for your correspondence which we received on 27 August, in which
you have made a request for information held by the Information
Commissioner's Office (ICO). 
 
Your request has been passed to the ICO’s Information Access Team, and is
being dealt with in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(FOIA) under the reference number shown above. 
 
As you are probably aware the FOIA provides individuals with the right of
access to recorded information held by public authorities. It is important
to note that a release under FOIA is applicant blind and therefore
effectively a release to the wider world.
 
We will respond to your FOIA request promptly, and no later than 24
September which is 20 working days from the day after we received your
request.
 
Should you wish to reply to this email please be careful not to amend the
information in the ‘subject’ field. This will ensure that your reply is
added directly to your case.
 
Yours sincerely
 
 

Hannah Silk
Lead Information Access Officer
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF
T. 0330 313 1688 [1]ico.org.uk  [2]twitter.com/iconews
Please consider the environment before printing this email
For information about what we do with personal data see our [3]privacy
notice

References

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1. http://www.ico.org.uk/
2. https://v-whcwcmeh03.child.indigo.local/...
3. https://ico.org.uk/global/privacy-notice/

Information Commissioner's Office

1 Attachment

12 September 2019

 

Case Reference Number IRQ0869096

 

Dear C Airley

Request for Information
 
Further to our acknowledgement of 2 September we can now respond to your
request for information of 27 August.
 
We have dealt with your request in accordance with your ‘right to know’
under section 1(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
 
Request
 
In your email you asked:
 
“Please advise how many complaints the ICO has received about breaches of
data protection regulations by Look Ahead in each of the past 6 years. How
many of these were upheld?”
 
Our response
 
Information Partially Withheld – FOIA section 21
 
I can confirm we hold information within the scope of your request. I can
also tell you that we now publish datasets regarding our data protection
casework on our website. This means that you will be able conduct searches
to see how many complaints we have received under the legislation we
regulate.
 
Our proactive disclosure datasets can be found at the foot of [1]this
webpage. You will be able to filter each column to help you locate the
information you are seeking. For example if you select the required dates
you will see you can filter column ‘P’ to show complaints made against a
particular data controller, such as Look Ahead.

The outcome of the case can be seen under Column O. It may be beneficial
to read our explanation of case outcomes found [2]here for data protection
cases.
 
The information has been published for cases closed up to the end of June
2018 and is therefore technically withheld pursuant to section 21 of the
FOIA, as it is ‘reasonably accessible by other means’.
 
You will notice our published datasets go back to 2014. We no longer hold
the information that you are seeking about cases closed prior to that date
as these would have been deleted from our case management system in line
with our retention schedule. More information about our retention schedule
can be found [3]here.
 
 
Information partially provided
 
Datasets are not yet available on our website for the period from the
start of July 2018 up to the date of your request. I have therefore
conducted a search of our case management systems for the period from 1
July 2018 up to 27 August 2019 and I can confirm that we hold some
information within the scope of your request. A summary of cases
identified as part of this search is attached.
 
Review Procedure
 
I hope this provides you with the information you require. However, if you
are dissatisfied with this response and wish to request a review of our
decision or make a complaint about how your request has been handled you
should write to the Information Access Team at the address below or e-mail
[4][ICO request email].
 
Your request for internal review should be submitted to us within 40
working days of receipt by you of this response. Any such request received
after this time will only be considered at the discretion of the
Commissioner.
 
If having exhausted the review process you are not content that your
request or review has been dealt with correctly, you have a further right
of appeal to this office in our capacity as the statutory complaint
handler under the legislation. To make such an application, please write
to our Customer Contact Team at the address given or visit our website if
you wish to make a complaint under the Freedom of Information Act.
 
A copy of our review procedure can be accessed from our website.
 
[5]https://ico.org.uk/media/1883/ico-review...
 
Yours sincerely
 
 

Hannah Silk
Lead Information Access Officer
Corporate Strategy and Planning Service
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF
T. 0330 313 1688 [6]ico.org.uk  [7]twitter.com/iconews
Please consider the environment before printing this email
For information about what we do with personal data see our [8]privacy
notice

 
 
 

References

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1. https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/our-inf...
2. https://ico.org.uk/media/about-the-ico/d...
3. https://ico.org.uk/media/about-the-ico/p...
4. mailto:[ICO request email]
5. https://ico.org.uk/media/1883/ico-review...
6. http://www.ico.org.uk/
7. file://v-whdata1/desktop$/silkh/Desktop/Templates/FOI/twitter.com/iconews
8. https://ico.org.uk/global/privacy-notice/

Dear Information Commissioner's Office,

Thank you for your reply dated 12 September 2019.

The information I have sought is only available to me if I am forced to accept Cookies and all other manner of breaches of privacy which are a condition of using your website. I decline to accept these as I have a right to do so. In the circumstances, I request you provide the information requested in a format which allows me to not surrender my privacy.

It is an outrage that the ICO is forcing people to accept all manner of invasions of privacy to access its website.

Yours faithfully,

Caroline Airley

Information Commissioner's Office

24 September 2019

 

Case Reference Number IRQ0869096

 

Dear C Airley

When you access our website, Analytics cookies, which collect data on how
you use the website in order to help us to improve it, are automatically
set to off. These cookies are only enabled if you choose to switch them
on.

The only cookies which run automatically are those which are necessary to
enable the core functionality of our website, including security. Cookies
are used in this way across the internet. You also have the option to
disable these cookies through your browser settings but this may affect
the way the website functions.

Additionally if you prefer not to access our website from your own
computer due to concerns about cookies you have the option to access it
from a public computer, such as at a library.

If you are unhappy with my response you can come back to me to request a
review of the way your request has been handled.
 
If you then remain dissatisfied you can report your concern to the ICO as
regulator via the following link [1]here.

When you access our website, Analytics cookies, which collect data on how
you use the website in order to help us to improve it, are automatically
set to off. These cookies are only enabled if you choose to switch them
on.

The only cookies which run automatically are those which are necessary to
enable the core functionality of our website, including security. Cookies
are used in this way across the internet. You also have the option to
disable these cookies through your browser settings but this may affect
the way the website functions.

Additionally if you prefer not to access our website from your own
computer due to concerns about cookies you have the option to access it
from a public computer, such as at a library.

If you are unhappy with my response you can come back to me to request a
review of the way your request has been handled.
 
If you then remain dissatisfied you can report your concern to the ICO as
regulator via the following link [2]here.
 
Yours sincerely
 
 

Hannah Silk
Lead Information Access Officer
Corporate Strategy and Planning Service
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF
T. 0330 313 1688 [3]ico.org.uk  [4]twitter.com/iconews
Please consider the environment before printing this email
For information about what we do with personal data see our [5]privacy
notice

 

 
 
 

References

Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/concerns/
2. https://ico.org.uk/concerns/
3. http://www.ico.org.uk/
4. https://v-whcwcmeh04.child.indigo.local/...
5. https://ico.org.uk/global/privacy-notice/

Dear Information Commissioner's Office,

Thank you for your response concerning the use of the ICO website.

It has been my experience that the website will not allow access unless you accept the cookies and other invasions of privacy. I have attempted to try to avoid these but this has been unsuccessful to date.

I therefore request an Internal Review in order for you to provide the information without my right to privacy being breached.

Yours faithfully,

Caroline Airley

Information Commissioner's Office

27 September 2019

 

Case Reference Number RCC0877425

 

Dear C Airley

Thank you for your correspondence dated 26 September.
 
We are processing your request for an internal review of the response we
provided to your recent request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.
 
We will aim to respond by 24 October which is 20 working days from the day
after we received your recent correspondence. This is in accordance with
our internal review procedures which were provided with our response.
 
Yours sincerely

 

Hannah Silk
Lead Information Access Officer
Corporate Strategy and Planning Service
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF
T. 0330 313 1688 [1]ico.org.uk  [2]twitter.com/iconews
Please consider the environment before printing this email
For information about what we do with personal data see our [3]privacy
notice

 
 

References

Visible links
1. http://www.ico.org.uk/
2. https://v-whcwcmeh03.child.indigo.local/...
3. https://ico.org.uk/global/privacy-notice/

Information Commissioner's Office

27 September 2019

 

Case Reference Number RCC0877425

 

Dear C Airley

I write further to your email of 26 September 2019, in which you request
an internal review of our response to your information request, which we
handled under the case reference number IRQ0869096.
 
My name is Ian Goddard and I am an Information Access Service Manager. I
have been asked to review the way we handled your request for information.
I can confirm that I have had no prior involvement in the handling of this
request.

I have undertaken the review and confirm that your request was responded
to appropriately and I am upholding our response to your request.
 
In your request of 27 August 2019 you asked for the following information:
“how many complaints the ICO has received about breaches of data
protection regulations by Look Ahead in each of the past 6 years. How many
of these were upheld?”
 
Ms Silk responded to your request advising that the information you
requested for the period April 2014 up to the end of June 2018 was exempt
from disclosure under section 21 of the FOIA. This is because this
information is reasonably accessible to you by other means, as information
about complaints we have received about Look Ahead in this period are
available in our publically available casework datasets which are
published on our website. Ms Silk provided you with a link to these
datasets as further advice and assistance. For the period from July 2018,
Ms Silk also provided you with a spreadsheet summarising the complaints
received about Look Ahead, as the datasets for this period are yet to be
published.
 
I understand the basis for your request for internal review is that you do
not wish to access our website due to privacy concerns you have about
cookies and therefore you consider the information withheld under section
21 is not reasonably accessible to you.
 
I’m afraid I do not agree with this reasoning.
 
Section 21 of the FOIA explains that “Information which is reasonably
accessible to the applicant otherwise than under section 1 is exempt
information.”
 
As explained by Ms Silk, the information you have requested is available
in the datasets we publish on our website. Subsequent to your initial
concerns about accessing the website, she provided additional advice and
assistance regarding cookies and our website, including information about
how to disable and delete cookies. Ms Silk also advised that if you still
had concerns regarding accessing our website from your personal devices,
you have the option of accessing our website from a public computer, such
as those available at a library.
 
I therefore confirm that the exemption at section 21 of the FOIA applies
to the withheld information as it is reasonably accessible to you by other
means; and that Ms Silk provided an appropriate level of advice and
assistance. As such, I do not uphold your request for internal review.
 
This concludes my response to your internal review. I realise that this
response may be disappointing to you but hope our reasoning is clear.
 
Complaint procedure

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of this review you can make a
formal complaint with the ICO in its capacity as the regulator of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Please follow the link below to submit
your complaint: [1]https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

Alternatively, you can write to our Customer Contact team at the address
in my signature below.
 
Yours sincerely

Ian Goddard
Information Access Service Manager, Risk and Governance Department
Corporate Strategy and Planning Service
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF
T. 0330 4146823  F. 01625 524510  [2]ico.org.uk  [3]twitter.com/iconews
For information about what we do with personal data see our [4]privacy
notice
Please consider the environment before printing this email

References

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1. https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/
2. http://ico.org.uk/
3. https://twitter.com/iconews
4. https://ico.org.uk/global/privacy-notice/

Miss Millward left an annotation ()

Interesting this link relating to Look Ahead Refuge Abuse is also linked to this other link about the same abuse by the same member of staff (project manager Yvette Hazelden) at the same refuge by author Freesia Mason https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/m...