OccupEye
Dear Information Commissioner’s Office,
It has been reported that the Daily Telegraph introduced monitoring devices from the company OccupEye, but the company immediately had to withdraw the devices following protests from staff.
I have been informed that the same devices were recently installed in the Information Commissioner's Office, and would like to receive information about this.
1) When were the devices installed, and for how long?
2) What was the purpose of installing the devices (please supply internal business case, memos or other original material, rather than a summary of the justification).
3) Who decided that the devices would be deployed?
4) Please provide a copy of the Privacy Impact Assessment or other assessment of the legality of using the monitoring devices which the ICO carried out prior to the devices being implemented.
5) Please provide a copy of any information provided to ICO staff about the use of the devices, including details of arrangements for staff who objected to the devices' use.
6) Any reports or other documents outlining the outcome of the study.
Yours faithfully,
Sandra West
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Yours sincerely
The Information Commissioner’s Office
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9 February 2016
Case Reference Number IRQ0611917
Dear Ms West
Request for Information
Further to our acknowledgement, we can now respond to your request for
information dated 12 January 2016.
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), which
entitles you to be provided with any information ‘held’ by a public
authority, unless an appropriate exemption applies.
In your email you asked for the following information:
“It has been reported that the Daily Telegraph introduced monitoring
devices from the company OccupEye, but the company immediately had to
withdraw the devices following protests from staff.
I have been informed that the same devices were recently installed in the
Information Commissioner's Office, and would like to receive information
about this.
1) When were the devices installed, and for how long?
2) What was the purpose of installing the devices (please supply internal
business case, memos or other original material, rather than a summary of
the justification).
3) Who decided that the devices would be deployed?
4) Please provide a copy of the Privacy Impact Assessment or other
assessment of the legality of using the monitoring devices which the ICO
carried out prior to the devices being implemented.
5) Please provide a copy of any information provided to ICO staff about
the use of the devices, including details of arrangements for staff who
objected to the devices' use.
6) Any reports or other documents outlining the outcome of the study.”
Our response to each point is detailed below.
1) When were the devices installed, and for how long?
The devices were installed on 30 and 31 October 2014. They began to
collate information from Monday 3 November to Friday 21 November 2014, and
were removed shortly after.
2) What was the purpose of installing the devices (please supply internal
business case, memos or other original material, rather than a summary of
the justification).
This is explained in the three attached documents:
* ICO Privacy Impact Assessment – OccupEye
* ICON staff notices re OccupEye
* Headcount Review of Information Commissioner’s Office – OccupEye
3) Who decided that the devices would be deployed?
The ICO was instructed by its (then) sponsoring department, the Ministry
of Justice (MoJ), to implement the OccupEye system for 3 weeks.
4) Please provide a copy of the Privacy Impact Assessment or other
assessment of the legality of using the monitoring devices which the ICO
carried out prior to the devices being implemented.
Please see the ICO’s Privacy Impact Assessment attached.
5) Please provide a copy of any information provided to ICO staff about
the use of the devices, including details of arrangements for staff who
objected to the devices' use.
Please see the attached ‘ICON staff notices re OccupEye’ dated 24 and 29
October 2014 for details of the staff notices that were posted on the
ICO’s intranet (called ‘ICON’).
The ICON notice of 24 October 2014 advises staff not to use the room/desk
booking system for the three week period if they have concerns about their
personal data being processed.
6) Any reports or other documents outlining the outcome of the study.”
The results of the three week monitoring period are contained within the
attached report ‘Headcount Review of Information Commissioner’s Office -
OccupEye’. This is dated 3 December 2014, and was produced by the Estate
Directorate of the MoJ.
You will see that the name of the author of the report, a member of staff
from the MoJ, has been redacted. This personal information is exempt from
disclosure to you under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act
2000 as to provide it to you would be ‘unfair’, and therefore in
contravention of the fair processing requirements of the Data Protection
Act 1998.
Review Procedure
We 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 [1][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 either the Freedom of Information Act
or Environmental Information Regulations.
A copy of our review procedure can be accessed from our website [2]here.
Yours sincerely
Antonia Swann
Lead Information Access Officer
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF
T. 01625 545894 F. 01625 524510 [3]ico.org.uk [4]twitter.com/iconews
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Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113 Fax: 01625 524 510 Web: www.ico.org.uk
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