Police warned over ‘digital strip searches’
THE information watchdog has issued a warning over “digital strip searching” of rape and sex assault victims after evidence suggested police had breached complainants’ privacy.
Elizabeth Denham, the information commissioner, is investigating whether police procedures for accessing victims’ mobile phones could breach their privacy and how personal information is handled and used by police and prosecutors.
There have been at least five alleged breaches where personal information was disclosed to the defendant by police or prosecutors when it should not have been.
In one Ms Denham fined Kent police £80,000 after sensitive personal details of a woman who accused her partner of domestic abuse were passed to the suspect. Police handed the defence solicitor the entire contents of the victim’s mobile phone.
She is understood to be concerned that there does not appear to be an “overarching” set of rules to ensure highly-sensitive information is not disclosed to offenders or their solicitors. Yesterday a coalition of 10 civil liberties organisations said police and the Crown Prosecution Service’s requests to download the contents of victims’ mobile phones amounted to a “digital strip search” and were unlawful.
Ms Denham said her office had “serious concerns” about extraction of mobile phone data by the police and how it affects privacy rights.
Under forms launched after failures to disclose digital evidence, police ask victims for permission to view phone data. Police say they have to ask for all data so they can determine what is relevant. If victims do not comply, they are told prosecutions may not proceed particularly where there are no other lines of inquiry.
Ms Denham is understood to be concerned about the “blanket” consent required by police to access data and records which include time before any crime was committed. She is also worried how consent is obtained.
James Dipple-johnstone, the deputy commissioner. told MPS: “These statements [giving consent] are often signed in the immediate aftermath and shock of the crime, and, we are told, victims can often be unclear as to what they are consenting to and why.”