Ashley Russell
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Our Reference: FOI 162/10
20th January 2011
Dear Mr Russell,
I am writing with reference to your request for information regarding the Police
National Database (PND), dated 19 December 2010, made under section 1(1) of
the Freedom of Information Act.
You asked for the following information:
I am interested in find out the following information with regards to the
Police National Database:
1) Are you using commercial products or is it being entirely developed in-
house? If you are, could you name them?
2) Could you provide any documentation with regards to the technical
development of the Police National Database?
3) Could you provide the database schema?
On 4 January we sought further clarification regarding the technical documentation
you wished to see. You responded:
By 'technical documentation' I am referring to any document created in the
technical development of the database (perhaps a design document) and
technical documentation relating to APIs or SDKs used for accessing the
database.
I can confirm that the NPIA holds the information you have requested and the
information that can be disclosed is included in this letter.
National Policing Improvement Agency
1) Are you using commercial products or is it being entirely developed in-
house? If you are, could you name them?
The contract for the design, build, delivery and operation of the Police National
Database (PND) was let to Logica in April 2009. Logica is using commercial off-the-
shelf packages including an Oracle database, using an Oracle middleware platform,
running on Oracle hardware, a master data management system from IBM Initiate,
and a Microsoft FAST search engine.
2) Could you provide any documentation with regard to the technical
development of the Police National Database?
3) Could you provide the database schema?
Regarding the technical development documentation for the PND and the database
schema, I can confirm that this information is held by the NPIA.
The Freedom of Information Act obliges us to respond to requests promptly and in
any case no later than 20 working days after receiving your request. However,
when a qualified exemption applies to the information, the Act allows the time for
response to be longer than 20 working days so that the balance of public interest
can be considered, although, a full response must be provided within such time as
is reasonable in all circumstances of the case.
We do, of course, aim to make all decisions within 20 working days, including in
cases where we need to consider where the public interest lies in respect of a
request for exempt information. In this case, however, we have not yet reached a
decision on where the balance of the public interest lies.
We estimate that it will take an additional 20 days to reach a decision on where the
balance of the public interest lies. Therefore, we plan to let you have a response by
17/02/2011. If it appears that it will take longer than this to reach a conclusion, we
will keep you informed.
The specific exemptions which apply in relation to your request are:
Section 24 National Security
The information requested contains technical and security details which would
increase the possibility of unauthorized intrusion, at a level where there is
significant risk to counter terrorist intelligence or the denial of the PND service to
the UK police forces.
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© NPIA (National Policing Improvement Agency)
National Policing Improvement Agency
Section 31 Law Enforcement
The information requested contains technical and security details which would
increase the possibility of unauthorized intrusion at a level where there is significant
risk to local and national police intelligence or denial of the PND service to one or
more of the UK Police Forces.
Your Right to Complain
We take our responsibilities under the Freedom of Information Act seriously but if
you feel your request has not been properly handled or you are otherwise
dissatisfied with the outcome of your request, you have the right to complain.
We will investigate the matter and endeavour to reply within 20 working days. You
should write to:
Anne Taylor
Head of Secretariat and Policing Portfolio Unit
C/O FOI Team
National Policing Improvement Agency
10th Floor (East),
New King's Beam House,
22 Upper Ground,
London,
SE1 9QY
E-mail:
xxxxxxx.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xxxxxx.xx
If you are still dissatisfied following our internal review, you have the right, under
section 50 of the Act, to complain directly to the Information Commissioner. Before
considering your complaint, the Information Commissioner would normally expect
you to have exhausted the complaints procedures provided by the NPIA. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
FOI Compliance Team (complaints)
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
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© NPIA (National Policing Improvement Agency)
National Policing Improvement Agency
Further information about the NPIA is routinely published on our website at
www.npia.police.uk or through our publication scheme. If you require any further
assistance in connection with this request please contact us at our address below.
Andy Woodgate
Knowledge and Information Management Advisor
National Policing Improvement Agency
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© NPIA (National Policing Improvement Agency)