Data Protection Breaches within the PSNI

The request was successful.

Dear Police Service of Northern Ireland,

I wish to make an FOI request for the following information -

1/ How many civilian workers in the PSNI have been convicted for breaches of the data protection act from 2007 to present.

2/ How many civilian workers in the PSNI are currently under investigation for breaches of the data protection act.

3/ How many civilian workers in the PSNI have been disciplined internally but not prosecuted for breaches of the data protection act from 2007 to present.

4/ Please advise who investigates alleged civilian breaches of the dpa within PSNI. Is it referred to the ICO?

Yours faithfully,

Scarlett Kelly

Police Service of Northern Ireland

1 Attachment

February 2, 2010

Dear Ms. Kelly,

FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000

I write in connection with your request for information dated February 1, 2010 which was received by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) on February 1, 2010. I note you seek access to the following information:

Questions about civilian workers in the PSNI have been convicted for breaches of the data protection act from 2007 to present.

This request will be dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. A response should be sent to you within 20 working days. The Freedom of Information team will advise you in writing if there are any delays in responding to your request and will keep you advised of progress.

In the event where the cost of complying with the request would exceed the "appropriate level", which is fixed at £450, as stated in the Freedom of Information Regulations 2004, it is the policy of the PSNI to close the request. You will however be notified of this decision and given an opportunity to refine and resubmit the request.

If your request requires either full or partial transference to another public authority in order to answer your query, again, you will be notified.
If you have any queries regarding your request please write or contact the Freedom of Information Team on 028 9070 0164. Please remember to quote the reference number listed above in any future communications with the Freedom of Information Team.

If you are dissatisfied in any way with the handling of your request, you have the right to request a review.You should do this as soon as possible, or in any case within two months of the date of issue of this letter.In the event that you require a review to be undertaken, you can do so by writing to the Head of Freedom of Information, PSNI Headquarters, 65 Knock Road, Belfast, BT5 6LE or by emailing [email address].

If following an internal review, carried out by an independent decision maker, you were to remain dissatisfied in any way with the handling of the request you may make a complaint,under Section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act, to the Information Commissioner's Office and ask that they investigate whether the PSNI has complied with the terms of the Freedom of Information Act. You can write to the Information Commissioner at Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. In most circumstances the Information Commissioner will not investigate a complaint unless an internal review procedure has been carried out, however the Commissioner has the option to investigate the matter at his discretion.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Gordon Reid
A/Head of Freedom of Information

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Dear Police Service of Northern Ireland,

I write in regard to my FOI request, above, and note that a response has not been issued by the deadline of 01 Mar 2010, as required by law. Can you please update me on the position with my foi request.

Yours faithfully,

Scarlett

Police Service of Northern Ireland

Dear Ms Kelly

With regard to your request which is now on Day 20,please accept our apologies but we will not be able to respond by the due date.

A response is currently being prepared and when completed will be forwarded for quality assuring.

I hope to have a response to you by 11th March or sooner if possible.

Once again please accept our apologies for the delay

Yours sincerely,




Mr Gordon Reid
A/Head of Freedom of Information

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Dear Police Service of Northern Ireland,

I refer to my request. Can you please clarify the position with this request, and explain the delay?

Yours faithfully,

Scarlett

Police Service of Northern Ireland

Dear Ms Kelly,

Please accept our apologies. Several issues have been raised during the
quality assurance stage which need to be investigated in order to
provide you with a full and comprehensive response.

We hope to issue a response before the end of the week.

Yours Sincerely,

Mr Gordon Reid
A/Head of Freedom of Information.

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Police Service of Northern Ireland

1 Attachment

Subject: F-2010-00279
February 27, 2010

Dear Ms. Kelly,

FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000

I write in connection with your request for information dated February
1, 2010 which was received by the Police
Service of Northern Ireland on February 1, 2010 concerning:

Questions about civilian workers in the PSNI have been convicted for
breaches of the data protection act from 2007 to present.

Please find attached response to your request. Please accept my
apologies for the delay.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Gordon Reid
A/Head of Freedom of Information

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Dear Police Service of Northern Ireland,

Thank you for your reply, however I am unable to open the attachment. Perhaps you could resend the reply in the body of the email rather than an attachment.

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

Scarlett

Police Service of Northern Ireland

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Kelly,

Subject: F-2010-00279

February 27, 2010

Dear Ms. Kelly,

FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000

I write in connection with your request for information dated February 1,
2010 which was received by the Police

Service of Northern Ireland on February 1, 2010 concerning:

Questions about civilian workers in the PSNI have been convicted for
breaches of the data protection act from 2007 to present.

Please find the response to your request below and attached.

Question 1

How many civilian workers in the PSNI have been convicted for breaches of
the data protection act from 2007 to present?

Answer

A search of investigations carried out by PSNI Professional Standard
Department and each of our Human Resource Managers in all PSNI's Districts
and Departments revealed that there are no civilian staff members who as a
result of internal investigation have been convicted for breaches of the
data protection act from 2007 to present.

Question 2
How many civilian workers in the PSNI are currently under investigation
for breaches of the data protection act?

Answer
Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires the Police
Service of Northern Ireland, when refusing to provide such information
(because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a
notice which:

(a) states that fact,

(b) specifies the exemption in question and

(c) states (if not otherwise apparent) why the exemption applies.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) can Neither Confirm Nor Deny
(NCND) that it holds the information relevant to your request as the duty
in Section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not apply
by virtue of the following exemption :

o Section 30 (3) Investigations and Proceedings conducted by Public
Authorities

Section 30 is a class based qualified exemption and consideration must be
given as to whether there is a public interest in confirming or denying
the information exists is the appropriate response.

Public Interest Test Section 30
For Release

The public are entitled to know how public funds are being spent and that
if cases of this nature were to exist, that they are being investigated
satisfactorily. Confirmation or denial would assist communities to be
more aware of the level of protection afforded to them.

For Retention

By confirming or denying the existence of details of ongoing Data
Protection investigations the PSNI's future investigative capabilities
would be affected which would hinder the prevention or detection of
crime. This would impact on police resources and more crime would be
committed, placing individuals at risk.

Decision

This question asks about current ongoing investigations. It is standard
practice to apply NCND in these cases in order to prevent someone
currently unaware of an ongoing investigation taking steps to prevent
detection. Confirming or denying the existence of the information could
alert a member of police support staff who is involved in breach of Data
Protection Act activities to the fact that we have no information on
him/her. This could encourage this member of staff to continue with
his/her activities, leading to continued criminal activity and therefore
may make detection/prevention of crime more difficult.

Whilst there is an interest in the transparency of discipline issues
within the PSNI, there is a very strong public interest in safeguarding
the integrity of police investigations. Therefore it is our opinion that
for these issues the balancing test for confirming or denying whether the
information is held is not made out.

In accordance with the Act, this letter represents a Refusal Notice for
this part of your request. The Police Service of Northern Ireland can
neither confirm nor deny that it holds the information you have requested.

Question 3
How many civilian workers in the PSNI have been disciplined internally but
not prosecuted for breaches of the data protection act from 2007 to
present?

Answer
Professional Standards Department have carried out investigations into 5
civilian workers from 2007 to present which resulted in no prosecution but
appropriate disciplinary action by local Human Resource Management.

Question 4
Please advise who investigates alleged civilian breaches of the dpa within
PSNI. Is it referred to the ICO?

Answer

The allegation will be investigated either by the Professional Standards
Department or by the individual's local Human Resources Manager who will
assess the circumstances of the case and identify a proportionate response
to the allegation. The assessment will include consideration of all
relevant factors. Where necessary (for example, confirmation that an
offence has occurred), the PSD or the local HR Manager will seek the views
of the data protection officer. The information Commissioner may also be
in position to provide advice. In all cases the data protection officer
should be regularly appraised of the progress of any investigation and
prosecution into offences under the Act.

Where a prosecution is anticipated the Head of Investigations at the
Information Commissioner's Office will be informed and will provide
guidance and assistance as necessary, though the police service will
retain primacy.

A decision by the Crown Prosecution Service not to proceed with a
prosecution under the Act should not preclude notification of the case to
the Information Commissioner. The information Commissioner is
particularly keen on pursuing those who procure the disclosure or sale of
Police-held personal data.

The data protection officer will be informed of the outcome of the case in
order that any necessary remedial action can be identified and undertaken
by the service.

If you have any queries regarding your request or the decision please do
not hesitate to contact me on 028 9070 0164. When contacting the Freedom
of Information Team, please quote the reference number listed at the
beginning of this letter.

If you are dissatisfied in any way with the handling of your request, you
have the right to request a review. You should do this as soon as
possible, or in any case within two months of the date of issue of this
letter. In the event that you require a review to be undertaken, you can
do so by writing to the Head of Freedom of Information, PSNI
Headquarters, 65 Knock Road, Belfast, BT5 6LE or by emailing
[1][email address].

If following an internal review, carried out by an independent decision
maker, you were to remain dissatisfied in any way with the handling of the
request you may make a complaint, under Section 50 of the Freedom of
Information Act, to the Information Commissioner's Office and ask that
they investigate whether the PSNI has complied with the terms of the
Freedom of Information Act. You can write to the Information Commissioner
at Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. In most circumstances the Information
Commissioner will not investigate a complaint unless an internal review
procedure has been carried out, however the Commissioner has the option to
investigate the matter at his discretion.

Please be advised that PSNI replies under Freedom of Information may be
released into the public domain via our website @ [2]www.psni.police.uk

Personal details in respect of your request have, where applicable, been
removed to protect confidentiality.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Gordon Reid

A/Head of Freedom of Information

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Dear Police Service of Northern Ireland,

Thank you for your reply to my foi request of 01 feb 2010. I would be grateful if you could clarify a few further questions regarding this reply, as follows:

1/ When carrying out research into this topic, I found two cases of psni civilian employee’s convicted of data breaches since 2007 by performing a ‘google’ search on the internet. Both cases were reported on by media. I therefore have to question the accuracy of your answer to question one when you state that there have been no psni civilian employee’s convicted of data breaches since 2007 to present. Perhaps you would wish to re-check PSNI records, and confirm that data you have provided is correct.

2/ My question simply requested a figure of how many civilian PSNI employee’s are currently under investigation for alleged/potential data breaches. I do not understand how by providing a figure, a member of staff could be alerted to the fact they are or are not under investigation? Surely Police procedure is to inform the member of staff they are under investigation, therefore they would already be aware of this. I would therefore ask that you review your decision not to supply this information.

3/ Regarding question three, of the 5 cases investigated and subsequently discliplined for alleged data breaches, how many if any were referred to the PPS for consideration to prosecute?

4/ In your answer to question four you state:

Where a prosecution is anticipated the Head of Investigations at the
Information Commissioner's Office will be informed and will provide
guidance and assistance as necessary, though the police service will
retain primacy.

Can you please confirm if this is official PSNI procedure and a mandatory requirement to inform the ICO of such a potential prosecution?

Yours faithfully,

Scarlett

Police Service of Northern Ireland

Dear Ms Kelly

With regard to your email below I can advise that points 1 and 2 have
been logged as requests for review as you are dissatisfied with the
response issued.

You are seeking further information in point 3 and this has been logged
as a new request.

In relation to point 4 I have passed this to the relevant record owner
and am awaiting a response which will then be forwarded to yourself.

Hope this assists

PSNI FOI Team
Brooklyn

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Police Service of Northern Ireland

1 Attachment

Subject: F-2010-00279
March 23, 2010

Dear Ms. Kelly,

FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000

I acknowledge receipt of your correspondence dated 19th March 2010
requesting that Police Service of Northern Ireland review its response
to questions 1 and 2 in your request for information concerning:

Questions about civilian workers in the PSNI have been convicted for
breaches of the data protection act from 2007 to present.

An internal review will be conducted in accordance with Police Service
of Northern Ireland's review procedure. It is envisaged that the review
process will take no longer than 20 working days from date of receipt of
your letter, however we will endeavour to respond earlier.

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 an independent
decision maker will carry out a review of this case and advise you in
writing of the outcome.

If you wish to discuss this matter prior to receiving a response please
contact me on 028 9070 0164. Please remember to quote the reference
number above in any future communications.

If following an internal review you were to remain dissatisfied in any
way with the handling of the request you may make a complaint to the
Information Commissioner's Office and ask that they investigate whether
the PSNI has complied with the terms of the Freedom of Information Act.
You can write to the Information Commissioner at Information
Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire,
SK9 5AF. The Information Commissioner will not investigate a complaint
unless an internal review procedure has been carried out.

Yours sincerely

Mr Gordon Reid
A/Head of Freedom of Information

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Police Service of Northern Ireland

1 Attachment

March 23, 2010

Dear Ms. Kelly,

FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000

I write in connection with your request for information dated March 19, 2010 which was received by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) on March 23, 2010. I note you seek access to the following information:

Regarding question three in F-2010-00279 , of the 5 cases investigated and subsequently discliplined for alleged data breaches, how many if any were referred to the PPS for consideration to prosecute.

This request will be dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. A response should be sent to you within 20 working days. The Freedom of Information team will advise you in writing if there are any delays in responding to your request and will keep you advised of progress.

In the event where the cost of complying with the request would exceed the "appropriate level", which is fixed at £450, as stated in the Freedom of Information Regulations 2004, it is the policy of the PSNI to close the request. You will however be notified of this decision and given an opportunity to refine and resubmit the request.

If your request requires either full or partial transference to another public authority in order to answer your query, again, you will be notified.
If you have any queries regarding your request please write or contact the Freedom of Information Team on 028 9070 0164. Please remember to quote the reference number listed above in any future communications with the Freedom of Information Team.

If you are dissatisfied in any way with the handling of your request, you have the right to request a review.You should do this as soon as possible, or in any case within two months of the date of issue of this letter.In the event that you require a review to be undertaken, you can do so by writing to the Head of Freedom of Information, PSNI Headquarters, 65 Knock Road, Belfast, BT5 6LE or by emailing [email address].

If following an internal review, carried out by an independent decision maker, you were to remain dissatisfied in any way with the handling of the request you may make a complaint,under Section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act, to the Information Commissioner's Office and ask that they investigate whether the PSNI has complied with the terms of the Freedom of Information Act. You can write to the Information Commissioner at Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. In most circumstances the Information Commissioner will not investigate a complaint unless an internal review procedure has been carried out, however the Commissioner has the option to investigate the matter at his discretion.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Gordon Reid
A/Head of Freedom of Information

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Police Service of Northern Ireland

Dear Ms Kelly

Apologies for the delay in getting back to you regarding point 4 below.

I contacted the Data Protection Office regarding this and they have
advised :

" ACPO provide a Manual of Guidance to all UK Police Data Protection
Officers, which includes details regarding offences committed under the
legislation. Any investigation will be carried out on a case by case
basis and dealt with under its merits. Chapter 10 of the Manual,
version 3.0, will address this subject but the information provided is
guidance and good practice only.

The information contained within this chapter will always be considered
when an investigation is instigated but it still remains only guidance."

Hope this assists

PSNI FOI Team

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Dear Police Service of Northern Ireland,

I refer to my request for a review of points 1 and 2 , as above. Can you please provide an update on the current stage of my request?

Yours faithfully,

Scarlett

Police Service of Northern Ireland

Dear Scarlett

Your request for an internal review has been passed to me for examination
and to provide a response. This is currently under way and I will
endeavour to reply on or before by the 26/4/10.

Regards

Paul Cleland
PSNI Data Protection Officer
PSNI Headquarters
65 Knock Road
Belfast
BT5 6LE

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Police Service of Northern Ireland

1 Attachment

Subject: F-2010-00867
April 22, 2010

Dear Ms. Kelly,

FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000

I write in connection with your request for information dated March 19,
2010 which was received by the Police Service of Northern Ireland on
March 23, 2010 concerning:

Regarding question three in F-2010-00279 , of the 5 cases investigated
and subsequently discliplined for alleged data breaches, how many if any
were referred to the PPS for consideration to prosecute.

Please find attached response to your request.

Yours sincerely

Carolyn Harron

Access to Information Unit

Professional Standards Department

Police Service of Northern Ireland

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Dear Police Service of Northern Ireland,

Thank you for your reply to my further question, as above, however I am unable to open the attachment you have provided. Perhaps you could resend same in body of text.

Yours faithfully,

Scarlett

Police Service of Northern Ireland

1 Attachment

Dear Ms. Kelly.

I have resent the attachment. Please advise if you are now able to open
it.

Regards,

Zara McIlwaine
Freedom of Information Team

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Scarlett left an annotation ()

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST
Request Number: F-2010-00867
Keyword: Complaints/Discipline
Subject: Breaches of the Data Protection Act

Request and Answer:
This is to inform you that the Police Service of Northern Ireland has now completed its search for the
information you requested. The decision has been taken to disclose the located information to you in
full.
Question
Regarding question three (How many civilian workers in the PSNI have been disciplined internally
but not prosecuted for breaches of the data protection act from 2007 to present?), of the 5 cases
investigated and subsequently disciplined for alleged data breaches, how many if any were referred
to the PPS for consideration to prosecute?
Answer
Two cases investigated were referred to the PPS for consideration to prosecute.
If you have any queries regarding your request or the decision please do not hesitate to contact me
on 028 9070 0164. When contacting the Freedom of Information Team, please quote the reference
number listed at the beginning of this letter.
If you are dissatisfied in any way with the handling of your request, you have the right to request a
review. You should do this as soon as possible, or in any case within two months of the date of issue
of this letter. In the event that you require a review to be undertaken, you can do so by writing to the
Head of Freedom of Information, PSNI Headquarters, 65 Knock Road, Belfast, BT5 6LE or by
emailing x@x.x.police.uk .
If following an internal review, carried out by an independent decision maker, you were to remain
dissatisfied in any way with the handling of the request you may make a complaint, under Section 50
of the Freedom of Information Act, to the Information Commissioner’s Office and ask that they
investigate whether the PSNI has complied with the terms of the Freedom of Information Act. You
can write to the Information Commissioner at Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. In most circumstances the Information Commissioner
will not investigate a complaint unless an internal review procedure has been carried out, however
the Commissioner has the option to investigate the matter at his discretion.
Please be advised that PSNI replies under Freedom of Information may be released into the public
domain via our website @ www.psni.police.uk
Personal details in respect of your request have, where applicable, been removed to protect
confidentiality.

Police Service of Northern Ireland

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Kelly

I write in connection with your request for an internal review regarding
access to information about:_

1.How many civilian workers in the PSNI have been convicted for breaches
of the data protection act from 2007 to present.

2. How many civilian workers in the PSNI are currently under investigation
for breaches of the data protection act.

The review has been completed and please find attached response.

Regards

Paul Cleland
PSNI Data Protection Officer
PSNI HQ
Brooklyn

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Scarlett left an annotation ()

April 24th 2010

Dear Ms Kelly,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000

Reference No: F-2010 - 00279

I write in connection with your request for information dated 2/2/10 and further correspondence dated 23/3/10 for a review of the initial decision regarding:-

1. How many civilian workers in the PSNI have been convicted for breaches of the data protection act from 2007 to present?

2. How many civilian workers in the PSNI are currently under investigation for breaches of the data protection Act?

I can advise you the PSNI has now completed its review and I have examined how the initial request was processed and the exemption that was applied.

At the outset, I must reiterate that any request made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) will be treated as applicant blind. Although the public authority will have a name and address for correspondence this is not an overriding factor in arriving at any decision to release information.

In every case, information will be released under FOIA into the public domain and therefore the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) must be satisfied and content with a number of issues relating to any harm that may be caused by disclosure and the public interest etc.

My review focused on Section 1 (1) and 3 (1) (a,b), (2) (b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in that any person making a request for information to a public authority is entitled:-

(a) To be informed in writing by the public authority whether it holds information of the description specified in the request and
(b) If that is the case, to have that information communicated to him.

One exemption was engaged by the PSNI Central FOI Team whereby the PSNI neither will confirm nor deny that it holds the information relevant to your request and Section 30 (3) – Investigations and Proceedings was listed.

Full and detailed explanations have been provided with regard to the balance of the public interest test and considerations for the confirmation or denial that information is held.

I have examined these and I am satisfied they are reasonable and appropriate in this regard. There is nothing further that I would add or remove from what has already been documented with regard to that element of your request. However, I hope the following clarify and the two points raised have been addressed as follows:-

Point 1
The PSNI Central FOI Unit will liaise with internal Districts and Departments to establish if information is held relevant to the request. As part of that process it was revealed there were no civilian staff members who as a result of internal investigations had been convicted for breaches of the Data Protection Act from 2007 to present. This response was focused on the actual question posed, that no civilian workers in the PSNI have been convicted.

However, after a full review I feel it is reasonable to release the following information. The PSNI did submit files to the Public Prosecution Service and these related to two ex civilian PSNI staff members who were subsequently convicted in court. The initial criminal investigation commenced when they were employed by the PSNI but subsequently left before a recommendation to prosecute was taken.

Point 2

The PSNI will always strive to ensure full compliance with the principles of the Data Protection Act 1998. If and when applicable they will instigate investigations into any alleged breaches of the Act and pursue criminal convictions via the Courts or via internal disciplinary proceedings. In this instance if police were to release specific details of the number of civilian workers who are currently under investigation into the public domain, there is a risk Police could be providing confirmation to an offender that his/her offence has not been identified by the police.

The culprit may then assume they have very little to worry about and police are therefore not looking for anyone in relation to their particular unlawful activity. If confirmation is provided it may encourage the culprit to offend again.

The public will always have an interest in how crime is investigated by police and in particular breaches of the Act relating to police data. Making information of this nature available can show that the PSNI will treat matters of this nature very seriously and take proper and appropriate steps to deal with matters of this nature. However, the public will also have an expectation that the police service will conduct any investigation with due regard to confidentially and will not place any information into the public domain that will impact in a detrimental way on its crime detection purpose.

Therefore, I am satisfied with this element of your request and the PSNI will neither confirm nor deny that it holds information relating to this matter under Section 30 (3) – Investigations and Proceedings.
I believe the public interest in disclosing this information is outweighed by the public interest in withholding and the exemption will remain.

In conclusion, I have independently reviewed your request and additional information relating to the first question highlighted will be released. I am satisfied that neither to confirm nor deny that information is held with regard to the second question raised is appropriate and proper.

I hope the release of this information will address your request and the explanation offered provides you with a reasonable rationale for neither confirming nor denying the PSNI hold information.

If I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me or if you still remain unhappy as to how your request has been handled you may wish to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. You can write to the Information Commissioner at Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Yours Sincerely,

Paul Cleland
Data Protection Officer
Police Service of Northern Ireland HQ
65 Knock Road
Belfast
BT5 6LE

Dear Police Service of Northern Ireland,

Thank you for your reply. Can you please clarify the following:

In answer to my question 3, you state that 5 civilian workers in the PSNI have been disciplined internally, but not prosecuted for breaches of the data protection act from 2007 to present. You state that of these 5 cases, 2 we're referred to the PPS for consideration to prosecute.

In answer to my further question, regarding how many civilian workers in the psni have been convicted for DPA offences, you state that 2 ex civilian workers we're convicted after they left employment in the PSNI.

1/ What was the nature of the dpa offences of the 2 cases referred to the PPS by PSNI for consideration to be prosecuted but resulted in no prosecution?

2/ What was the nature of the dpa offences of the remaining 3 who were not referred to PPS by Psni?

3/ How many PSNI civilian workers, and ex civilian workers have been convicted for breaches of Data Protection Act from 2003 to 2007?

Many thanks for your further assistance.

Yours faithfully,

Scarlett

Police Service of Northern Ireland

Dear Ms Kelly

I acknowledge your email and this has been forwarded to the PSNI Freedom
of Information office for their attention.

Paul Cleland
DPO

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Police Service of Northern Ireland

1 Attachment

April 27, 2010

Dear Ms. Kelly,

FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000

I write in connection with your request for information dated April 27, 2010 which was received by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) on April 27, 2010. I note you seek access to the following information:

Further questions re responses issued to F-2010-00279 and F-2010-00867

This request will be dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. A response should be sent to you within 20 working days. The Freedom of Information team will advise you in writing if there are any delays in responding to your request and will keep you advised of progress.

In the event where the cost of complying with the request would exceed the "appropriate level", which is fixed at £450, as stated in the Freedom of Information Regulations 2004, it is the policy of the PSNI to close the request. You will however be notified of this decision and given an opportunity to refine and resubmit the request.

If your request requires either full or partial transference to another public authority in order to answer your query, again, you will be notified.
If you have any queries regarding your request please write or contact the Freedom of Information Team on 028 9070 0164. Please remember to quote the reference number listed above in any future communications with the Freedom of Information Team.

If you are dissatisfied in any way with the handling of your request, you have the right to request a review.You should do this as soon as possible, or in any case within two months of the date of issue of this letter.In the event that you require a review to be undertaken, you can do so by writing to the Head of Freedom of Information, PSNI Headquarters, 65 Knock Road, Belfast, BT5 6LE or by emailing [email address].

If following an internal review, carried out by an independent decision maker, you were to remain dissatisfied in any way with the handling of the request you may make a complaint,under Section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act, to the Information Commissioner's Office and ask that they investigate whether the PSNI has complied with the terms of the Freedom of Information Act. You can write to the Information Commissioner at Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. In most circumstances the Information Commissioner will not investigate a complaint unless an internal review procedure has been carried out, however the Commissioner has the option to investigate the matter at his discretion.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Gordon Reid
A/Head of Freedom of Information

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Police Service of Northern Ireland

1 Attachment

Subject: F-2010-01190
May 27, 2010

Dear Ms. Kelly,

FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000

I write in connection with your request for information dated April 27,
2010 which was received by the Police Service of Northern Ireland on
April 27, 2010 concerning:

Further questions after responses issued to F-2010-00279 and
F-2010-00867

I regret to inform you the Police Service of Northern Ireland have not
been able to respond to your request within the statutory timescale.

I now advise you that the amended date for a response is June 11, 2010.
I can assure you that every effort will be made to respond to your
request within this new timescale.

May I apologise for any inconvenience caused. If you have any queries
regarding your request please do not hesitate to contact me on 028 9070
0164. When contacting the Freedom of Information Team, please quote the
reference number listed at the beginning of this email.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Gordon Reid
Corporate Information Manager

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Police Service of Northern Ireland

1 Attachment

Subject: F-2010-01190
May 26, 2010

Dear Ms. Kelly,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000

I refer to your request for information dated April 27, 2010 which was
received by the Police Service of Northern Ireland on April 27, 2010
concerning:

Further questions after responses issued to F-2010-00279 and
F-2010-00867

Please find attached response to your request.

Yours sincerely

Mr Gordon Reid
Corporate Information Manager

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Dear Police Service of Northern Ireland,

I am unable to open the above attachment, can you please re-send it as a pdf or in body of text as a matter of urgency.

Yours faithfully,

Scarlett

Scarlett left an annotation ()

The following was the content of the 'Bin' attachment sent by PSNI:

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Police Service of Northern Ireland

1 Attachment

Dear Ms. Kelly,

I have resent the pdf attachment. Please advise if you are now able to
open it.

Regards,

Zara McIlwaine
Freedom of Information Team
Ext 33640

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