RIPA legislation

[Name Removed] made this Freedom of Information request to Oxford City Council This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

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The request was successful.

Dear Oxford City Council,

How many times has the Council used RIPA legislation to justify surveillance of Oxford residents?

Yours faithfully,

[Name Removed]

Dear [Name Removed]

Oxford City Council – Reference: 10215

Thank you for your email. Your request was received on 28th June 2021 and you will be sent a response within 20 working days (of receipt) in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000/ Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR), subject to the information not being exempt or containing reference to a third party.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) recognises the unprecedented challenges all are facing during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In particular they understand that resources, whether they are finances or people, may be diverted away from usual compliance or information rights work. Whilst the ICO can’t extend statutory timescales, they will not be penalising public authorities for prioritising other areas or adapting their usual approach during this extraordinary period.

Therefore while the Council will make every effort to comply with the Statutory Requirements you may experience understandable delays when making information rights requests during the pandemic.

Yours sincerely

Kathryn Winfield
Information Governance Requests Officer

Stop the virus from spreading. Keep Oxford safe.
Follow the guidance: Clean hands. Wear a face mask. Keep your distance. Get tested if you have symptoms.

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Dear [Name Removed]

Further to the acknowledgement below, unfortunately, responding to your
request has been delayed because of the need to reprioritise work during
the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) recognises the unprecedented
challenges all are facing during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In
particular, they understand that resources, whether they are finances or
people, may be diverted away from usual compliance or information rights
work. Whilst the ICO cannot extend statutory timescales, they will not be
penalising public authorities for prioritising other areas or adapting
their usual approach during this extraordinary period.

Please be assured that the Council remains committed to dealing with your
request and we will reply as soon as we are able.

Kind regards

For any Data Protection queries please send the email directly to the
[1][email address] mailbox

Stop the virus from spreading. Keep Oxford safe.

Follow the guidance: Clean hands. Wear a face mask. Keep your distance.
Get tested if you have symptoms.

show quoted sections

Dear freedomofinformation,

I'd like a date by which Oxford City Council will provide this information.

Yours sincerely,

[Name Removed]

Dear [Name Removed]

Oxford City Council – Reference: 10215

Further to the acknowledgement below, and apologies again for being just a
couple of days late but we can now respond to your Freedom of Information
Act 2000 request received on 28^th June 2021 as follows:

How many times has the Council used RIPA legislation to justify
surveillance of Oxford residents?

Zero

If you disagree with any part of the response to your request, you are
entitled to ask the Council for an internal review of the decision(s)
made. You may do this by writing to the Monitoring Officer, by either
email – [1][email address] – or by post to Monitoring Officer, Oxford City
Council, St Aldate’s Chambers, St Aldate’s, Oxford, OX1 1DS. After the
result of the internal review, if you remain dissatisfied, you may ask the
Information Commissioner to intervene on your behalf. You may do this by
writing to the Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely

For any Data Protection queries please send the email directly to the
[2][email address] mailbox

Stop the virus from spreading. Keep Oxford safe.

Follow the guidance: Clean hands. Wear a face mask. Keep your distance.
Get tested if you have symptoms.

show quoted sections

Dear Sal,

Many thanks for your reply.

Can you clarify a couple of things:

Has the Council used RIPA at all? If so, how many times?

Has the Council engaged in surveillance of Oxford residents (not including surveillance through the use of the 51 cameras in public spaces)?

'Engaged' can be taken as:

1. applying for permission for it or other bodies to surveil Oxford residents
2. conducting the surveillance itself, with or without legal authorisation
3. commissioning or requesting a third party to conduct investigations or surveillance into Oxford residents
4. any employee, councillor, officer or other individual which the Council is legally accountable for being involved in the surveillance of any Oxford resident
5. any employee, councillor, officer or other individual which the Council is legally accountable for accessing confidential information about an Oxford resident, whether that is through Council systems or otherwise (e.g. NHS systems, other public service systems, mining individuals for information with the intention to extract information that could be used against them and/or which would otherwise not normally be disclosed).

If it has, why?

Yours sincerely,

[Name Removed]

Dear [Name Removed]

Oxford City Council – Reference: 10215

Further to yor email below, I can respond as follows:

Has the Council used RIPA at all? If so, how many times?

Yes, RIPA was last used once in 2012 – 2013.

Has the Council engaged in surveillance of Oxford residents (not including
surveillance through the use of the 51 cameras in public spaces)?

We have undertaken no Surveillance operations.

Yours sincerely,

Kathryn Winfield
Information Governance Requests Officer

Kathryn Winfield | Information Governance Requests Officer | Oxford City
Council | Law and Governance | St. Aldate's Chambers | Oxford | OX1 1DS |
Email: [email address] | T: 01865 252007
My working days are Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Stop the virus from spreading. Keep Oxford safe.
Follow the guidance: Clean hands. Wear a face mask. Keep your distance.
Get tested if you have symptoms.

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Dear freedomofinformation,

Please can you confirm if Oxford City Council has done any of the following in the last 3 years:

If it has, why?

Yours sincerely,

[Name Removed]

Dear [Name Removed]

Oxford City Council – Reference: 10328

Thank you for your email. Your new request was received on 10th August 2021 and you will be sent a response within 20 working days (of receipt) in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000/ Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR), subject to the information not being exempt or containing reference to a third party.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) recognises the unprecedented challenges all are facing during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Therefore while the Council will make every effort to comply with the Statutory Requirements you may experience understandable delays when making information rights requests during the pandemic.

For future reference- Could you please submit new requests separately using a new email link as the "what do they know" system is designed for one request per thread only.

Yours sincerely

Kathryn Winfield
Information Governance Requests Officer

Stop the virus from spreading. Keep Oxford safe.
Follow the guidance: Clean hands. Wear a face mask. Keep your distance. Get tested if you have symptoms.

show quoted sections

Dear freedomofinformation,

Thank you for your reply. This isn't a new request. If you look back, you'll see this was included in the original request but wasn't answered.

I'd appreciate it if you could reply sooner.

Yours sincerely,

[Name Removed]

Dear freedomofinformation,

Can I have an update on this please?

Yours sincerely,

[Name Removed]

Dear [Name Removed]

Thank you for your email. I am still waiting for further information from the departments, which I have chased again today. I will respond as soon as I am able

Apologies for any inconvenience.

Kind regards

Kathryn Winfield
Information Governance Requests Officer

Stop the virus from spreading. Keep Oxford safe.
Follow the guidance: Clean hands. Wear a face mask. Keep your distance. Get tested if you have symptoms.

show quoted sections

Dear Oxford City Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Oxford City Council's handling of my FOI request 'RIPA legislation'.

The completion of this request is overdue.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/r...

Yours faithfully,

[Name Removed]

Dear [Name Removed]

Oxford City Council – Reference: 10328

Further to the acknowledgement below, I can respond to your Freedom of
Information Act 2000 request received on 10^th August 2021 as follows:

1. applying for permission for it or other bodies to surveil Oxford
residents -No

2. conducting the surveillance itself, with or without legal authorisation
– No

3. commissioning or requesting a third party to conduct investigations or
surveillance into Oxford residents -No

4. any employee, councillor, officer or other individual which the Council
is legally accountable for being involved in the surveillance of any
Oxford resident - No

5. any employee, councillor, officer or other individual which the Council
is legally accountable for accessing confidential information about an
Oxford resident, whether that is through Council systems or otherwise
(e.g. NHS systems, other public service systems, mining individuals for
information with the intention to extract information that could be used
against them and/or which would otherwise not normally be disclosed).

- The Counter Fraud Team holds, and has access to, personal data of
residents based in Oxford.

- If it has, why?

- The Counter Fraud Team has responsibility for preventing
and detecting fraud and financial irregularity in connection with Council
Services. It routinely accesses personal data, using Legal gateways and
delegated powers to do so. Information may be used in evidence where
criminality or unlawful activity is detected.

You also sent us an email asking for this request to submitted to an
internal review on the grounds that you felt it was taking too long. Now
that you have received a response, please advise if you would still like
to submit an Internal Review, and the grounds for this request as this
request was fulfilled within 20 working days.

Yours sincerely

For any Data Protection queries please send the email directly to the
[1][email address] mailbox

Stop the virus from spreading. Keep Oxford safe.

Follow the guidance: Clean hands. Wear a face mask. Keep your distance.
Get tested if you have symptoms.

show quoted sections

Dear freedomofinformation,

You haven't answered:

My request isn't solely about the Counter Fraud team.

Please clarify if any councillors or officers have processed or accessed or gathered personal data of Oxford residents of any kind (emails, written correspondence, photos, screengrabs, scans etc. of any kind including information that might be or have been, in the public domain).

If they have, please disclose what they did with that data.

I am requesting an internal review as this FOI request is still incomplete.

Yours sincerely,

[Name Removed]

Dear freedomofinformation,

Please also include audio/visual recordings which could be voicenotes, livestreams, media clips etc.

Yours sincerely,

[Name Removed]

Dear [Name Removed]

Thank you for your email.

I am writing to advise that I do not understand your response as a reply
to the email that I sent you.

I believe we have answered all your Freedom of Information requests now
about RIPA legislation – if you have any further please submit them fully
on a fresh thread – What Do They Know is a portal designed for one
question at a time, not to have multiple strands running after questions
have been answered.

Kindest regards

For any Data Protection queries please send the email directly to the
[1][email address] mailbox

Stop the virus from spreading. Keep Oxford safe.

Follow the guidance: Clean hands. Wear a face mask. Keep your distance.
Get tested if you have symptoms.

show quoted sections

Dear freedomofinformation,

I am requesting an internal review for this request.

The Council has not answered my questions when I've asked them which is why there has been back and forth.

The Council has also had multiple people dealing with this request, adding to the back and forth.

The Council also delayed the completion of this request.

I am not prepared to submit a new request with a new deadline of a month from now when I should have had a complete response already.

The unanswered question (point 5) was sent on 28 July.

Yours sincerely,

[Name Removed]

Dear [Name Removed]

Thank you for your email,

I apologise if the email was confusing. The answer for all other part of
the council was “No”.

The Counter Fraud team was the only part of the Council that had a
response. I apologise for not making that clearer in my email.

Kind regards

For any Data Protection queries please send the email directly to the
[1][email address] mailbox

Stop the virus from spreading. Keep Oxford safe.

Follow the guidance: Clean hands. Wear a face mask. Keep your distance.
Get tested if you have symptoms.

show quoted sections

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