ICO calls for police to end ‘excessive collection’ of personal data from rape and assault victims
The UK’s information commissioner, John Edwards, has called for prosecutors and police to end the excessive collection of personal data from victims of rape and serious sexual assault.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said police were asking crime victims to consent to the disclosure of large quantities of sensitive, and in some case irrelevant, personal data, in breach of privacy laws.
The practice, which gives police access to victims’ phone data, medical history, social service records, notes of their private discussions with therapists and historic school records, is deterring victims from reporting serious crimes.
Source: ICO calls for police to end ‘excessive collection’ of personal data from rape and assault victims
