Durham Constabulary

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Data Protection

Responsibility for Data Protection

The Information Compliance Unit at Force Headquarters, is responsible for managing the Chief Constable's statutory obligations in respect of the Data Protection Act, 1998 including: -

Contact Details

The Information Compliance Unit can be contacted via the following: -

Telephone 0191 375 2278
  0191 375 2487
  0191 375 2080
Fax 0191 375 2760
E-Mail data.protection@durham.pnn.police.uk
Post Durham Constabulary Headquarters
The Information Compliance Unit
Information Department
Aykley Heads
Durham
DH1 5TT

General Information about the Data Protection Act Protection Act 1998 and Subject Access

The Data Protection Act 1998 was brought into force on 1 March 2000 and works in two ways.  It gives individuals certain rights.  It also says those who record, process and use personal information must be open about how the information is used and must follow eight enforceable principles of 'good information handling'. These principles state that data must be: -

Subject Access

Rights of an Individual - Subject Access (Section 7 of the Data Protection Act 1998)

The subject access provisions of the Data Protection Act give an individual (a data subject) the right to access any personal data held about them.  Additionally, subject access provides a right to have inaccurate data rectified or destroyed.

However some legal exemptions exist to prevent disclosing this information in certain circumstances.  These exemptions include for example:

Downloads

Subject Access Form

Obtaining Information

Should you wish to know what information (if any) Durham Constabulary holds about you, or you would like confirmation you do not have a prosecution/conviction history, you must complete a subject access form. A relevant statutory fee (currently £10.00) is required plus TWO forms of ORIGINAL proof of identity documentation (which between them detail your name, date of birth and current address) must accompany the completed subject access form.

Durham Constabulary only process subject access applications from people who live within the boundaries of the Durham Constabulary area. If you live outside County Durham, please contact your local police. If in doubt, please telephone 0191 3752278 or 0191 3752487 or 0191 3752080.

There are a number of ways you can obtain a subject access application form:

Please note: You cannot e-mail the completed subject access form back to us as you need to provide us an original signature together with the relevant statutory fee (currently £10.00) and two forms of original proof of identity documentation.  You must print and return the entire subject access form (4 pages), as missing pages can cause delay in the processing of your application.

Completed Applications

When you have completed your application, you can either post it, hand it in personally at a main police station or hand it in personally by appointment at Durham Constabulary Headquarters.

Post It

Durham Constabulary Headquarters
The Information Compliance Unit
Information Department
Aykley Heads
Durham
DH1 5TT

Hand It In Personally

You can hand your form in at any Durham Constabulary police station where front counter facilities are available. Details of these can be found via the local policing pages. If you do, a receipt for the fee paid will be issued and your original proof of identity documentation will be returned to you immediately.

By Appointment

Durham Constabulary Headquarters (9am-4.30pm). Please telephone 0191 3752278 to arrange an appointment with relevant personnel in the Information Compliance Unit.

Please note that once we have received your completed application, the process to provide you with information can take up to 40 days.  40 days is the statutory time period defined within the Data Protection Act 1998.

Police Certificates

Individuals requiring Police Certificates for the purpose of applications for emigration, visas, work permits or residency in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America should download the application form for an ACPO Police Certificate from the ACPO website.

Please note that this Certificate is processed entirely by the ACPO Criminal Records Office (A.C.R.O). All submissions and enquiries relating to this process should be directed to A.C.R.O, who can be contacted in the following ways:

Please do not return this application form to Durham Constabulary.

Further Information

Suspension of the Step-down Process

There is no longer a facility to 'step down' conviction data.  On the 19th October 2009, a judgement by the Court of Appeal in London supported retention of criminal convictions on the Police National Computer (PNC) for policing purposes.  In particular the police are obliged, under Part V of the Police Act, to provide disclosure services to other parties, including the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), with access to all convictions held on PNC.  Therefore, the stepping down of convictions is no longer necessary and any such applications cannot be processed.

In effect, this means that all convictions will be retained on the PNC until an individuals 100th birth date.  It is also important to note that this data will now be available for disclosure to the CRB in relation to employment vetting.

New Position on the Retention of Police National Computer (PNC) Records

A broad range of information about data protection and subject access is available from the Office of the Information Commissioner.  For further information, contact:

The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Information Commissioner information line: 01625 545745
Information Commissioner website: www.ico.gov.uk