Sussex Police Reprimanded After Thousands Of Phone Calls Unlawfully Recorded

Both Surrey and Sussex Police, have been reprimanded following the rollout of an app that recorded phone conversations and unlawfully captured personal data.

In June 2020 the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) became aware that staff members across both police forces had access to an app that recorded all incoming and outgoing phone calls.

One thousand and fifteen staff members downloaded the app onto their work mobile phones and more than 200,000 recordings of phone conversations, likely with victims, witnesses, and perpetrators of suspected crimes, were automatically saved.

The ICO says it is highly likely that a large amount of personal data was collected during these calls and that the processing of some of this data was unfair and unlawful.

Police officers that downloaded the app were unaware that all calls would be recorded, and people were not informed that their conversations with officers were being recorded.

The app was made available in 2016 and was intended for a small number of officers involved in hostage negotiation, however, both police forces made the Appa available for all staff to download. 

Stephen Bonner, ICO Deputy Commissioner – Regulatory Supervision, said:

“Sussex Police and Surrey Police failed to use people’s personal data lawfully by recording hundreds of thousands of phone calls without their knowledge. People have the right to expect that when they speak to a police officer, the information they disclose is handled responsibly. We can only estimate the huge amount of personal data collected during these conversations, including highly sensitive information relating to suspected crimes.

“The reprimand reflects the use of the ICO’s wider powers towards the public sector as large fines could lead to reduced budgets for the provision of vital services. This case highlights why the ICO is pursuing a different approach, as fining Surrey Police and Sussex Police risks impacting the victims of crime in the area once again.

“This case should be a lesson learned to any organisation planning to introduce an app, product or service that uses people’s personal data. Organisations must consider people’s data protection rights and implement data protection principles from the very start.”

Yesterday (April 18) Sussex Police issued a statement in response to the reprimand, outlining what actions were taken after the error was identified:

The forces took immediate action when the error was identified in March 2020 including removing access to the app, securing evidence and self-referring the breach to the relevant regulators, including the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office (IPCO) and the Information Commissioner’s Office. The Crown Prosecution Service was also made aware.

A thorough internal audit was carried out to establish the number of officers and staff across both Surrey Police and Sussex Police who downloaded the app, the extent to which they used it and the quantity and nature of any material which may have been recorded.

This established that the app was used on 432 phones and that those phones held audio files. The audit also established that 1,024 officers and staff had downloaded the app.

Of these, four users had recordings on their devices which fell within the category of “users who have identified recording(s) that are evidence of an offence that is or was under investigation”.

Three of these related to criminal cases and each of the investigating officers was contacted and advised to ensure that the CPS was informed of the existence of these calls, in accordance with the Criminal Procedures & Investigations Act 1996.

Further enquiries established that only one of these could have had a potential impact if the case progressed to trial.

Both force Professional Standards Departments were fully involved in the findings. At no point was any risk or harm to any data subject identified.

All officers and staff who had downloaded the app were directed to delete any calls they had recorded without listening to them. The app and any files were removed and all mobile devices were reset to ensure that all the files were permanently deleted.

The ICO report also outlined a number of recommendations, the majority which have already been implemented.

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Fiona Macpherson explained:

“Police management of personal data is vital and we take rigorous measures to ensure this.

“This case exposed a lack of governance around use of this digital application, and this is regrettable.

“As soon as the error was reported, we took urgent action to ensure that this did not happen again. We initiated a review of all applications available on the corporate Google Play Store to ensure that there are no other applications that may have had similar functionality. A robust process is now in place to ensure any new requests for mobile apps are subject to appropriate due diligence and scrutiny.

“Steps were also taken to mitigate the situation by establishing how many officers had downloaded the app, the extent of their use of the app and any potential impact on upcoming legal proceedings. Officers and staff were also given clear instructions to delete any conversations they had recorded without listening to them.

“We also referred the matter proactively to the two regulatory bodies, ICO and IPCO, for their consideration and have fully complied with their directions.”