Mr Andrew Watson
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Our Reference: FOI 128/11
23rd August 2011
Dear Mr Watson,
I am writing with reference to your request for information regarding Project
Lantern, dated 25th July 2011, made under section 1(1) of the Freedom of
Information Act.
You asked for the following information:
Please send me the following documents relating to Project Lantern:
1. The final report on the project.
2. "Lantern Technical Options Paper – evaluation of fingerprint
sensor technologies" by Ambika Suman.
3. "Lantern performance and scalability report", (CCN014R2-20.2-1.0
dated 17 July 2007).
4. Any later revision of (3) above provided to NPIA in response to
recommendation 4 in "Lantern Project – The Way Forward"
(IDT004-0101-project way forward - project board recommendations
080403 v0-1).
5. "LANTERN Service Expansion Test Summary Report" (Document ID 4
in section 4.2 of "Contract Change Note 050 IDENT1-LANTERN Service
Expansion").
6. Any data held by NPIA on the Fingerprint False Match Rate (FMR)
and False Non-Match Rate (FNMR) achieved in the field during the
LANTERN trial.
We can confirm that the NPIA holds some of information falling within the
description specified in your request. However, we are unable to provide you with
the information you have requested as we consider the cost of complying with your
request would exceed the cost limit specified in regulations. See below for
explanation.
National Policing Improvement Agency
To provide any/ all data held by the NPIA on Fingerprint False Match Rate (FMR)
and False Non-Match Rate (FNMR) achieved in the field during the LANTERN trial, l
would require the search of a number of document storage areas, including:
archive, shared drives, personal folders. An electronic search of the storage areas
would not be sufficiently accurate to find any/all information relevant to your
request. There are an estimated 5000 documents that would need to be reviewed
and it is estimated that analysis of each document would take a minimum of one
minute per item, although the retrieval of some records may take longer, which
would increase the overall time taken. Taking the lower estimate, of one minute
document, this would constitute approximately 83 hours work, equating to a cost of
£2075 which is well in excess of the £450 cost limit specified in the Fees
Regulations for FOI requests.
However, within the cost limit we would be able to provide a response to questions
1 -5 and, if you were able to refine the parameter of your final question, for
example, by type of document or specific type of data sought, we may also be able
to provide a response.
Application of Cost Exemption
Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act does not oblige a public authority
to comply with a request for information if the cost of complying exceeds a cost
limit, known as the ‘appropriate limit’, which is specified in the Freedom of
Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.
For public authorities such as the NPIA, this cost limit has been set at £450. These
costs are limited to those that an authority reasonably expects to incur in:
•
determining whether it holds the information requested,
•
locating the information or documents containing the information,
•
retrieving such information or documents, and
•
extracting the information from the document containing it.
The Regulations also specify that costs which are attributable to the time spent by
persons undertaking any of the activities mentioned above are to be calculated at a
standard rate of £25 per hour. This represents the estimated cost of one person
spending a maximum of 18 hours (2½ working days) dealing with a request.
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:
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© NPIA (National Policing Improvement Agency)
National Policing Improvement Agency
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
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 above.
Yours sincerely,
Torie Smith
Knowledge and Information Management Assistant
National Policing Improvement Agency
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© NPIA (National Policing Improvement Agency)