Do confidential allegations appear on a police Subject Access Request?

[shandy329487]

A few years ago, in good faith, I made allegations to the police about my partner's conduct. I requested these remain completely confidential and not be investigated further. I provided no evidence, and was told that based on the information given, no crime had been committed. I was given a crime reference number, a victim support pack, and sure enough, my Ex has remained oblivious ever since.

Fast forward a few years, we aren't together and we just about get along for the sake of our shared child. However, they've been in trouble with the police over other matters since.

Now, I'm paranoid that if my Ex ever requests a subject access request (SAR) to see anything anybody has ever said about them, then my unsubstantiated, unactioned allegations would show up from years ago. This would have devastating consequences, given the nature of my Ex.

Having researched online, it seems a SAR will show up allegations.

But other old threads on mumsnet seem to suggest that allegations may not show up if I hadn't consented to the allegations being made known to the person they were about.

What is your experience, knowledge or thoughts on the matter?

Has anyone requested a SAR, and seen allegations showing up under locally held police data? If so, what level of detail does it go into? (Name of the person making allegations? Date? Crime reference number?)

And what should I consider doing next?

-Ask the police to confirm if the allegations would indeed show up on the persons SAR, should they ever request one. (If the police say definitely not, then I can relax.)

-Or withdraw the allegations, if possible? (Not as being untrue, just as not being worth the drama that would ensure if Ex found them, and because water has passed under the bridge and we're now amicable at distance)

-Or restress to the police that the incident must remain confidential

-Or make a local police data erasure request for the record to be removed.

Thanks, I appreciate your advice.

Are you saying you made false allegations?
You say you made the allegations “in good faith “ so presumably you reported third hand information..?
Ive no idea whether a subject access request would omit statements just because you’ve asked them to be made confidentially.
I don’t have much in comparison in terms of police reporting but when I reported SA I was not permitted to see evidence of the perpetrator’s (statements or interview etc).
But he could see the details if he asked I’m sure about what the allegations were (he knows anyway).
If the police said there was no crime in what you reported then I’d try not to worry about it.
Are you afraid of this man?

Perhaps in good faith was the wrong phrase - I didn't make any false allegations, is what I meant.

Perhaps this may be something to do with "data subjects" in requests, or GDPR perhaps.

With SARS, information which might relate to other people can be withheld. For example if your medical records included information about a partner who had been diagnosed with HIV, that's highly relevant to your healthcare but would be redacted from your records if you requested them. It could be that it works that way with the police although my experience of them is deep deep incompetence so, difficult to answer!

Personal information gathered for the purposes of prevention and detection of crime is exempt from the subject access provisions of GDPR if complying would prejudice the purposes of processing. Even if the allegations are included, the police cannot tell him who made the allegations as that is your personal data. So he may find out that the allegations were made, but he won't be told who made them.

Thanks @prh47bridge that sounds encouraging. May I ask what your source of knowledge is on the subject and if you could confirm a couple more points:

1. Even if my Ex was able to read just one line of what the allegation was, or even the date of the allegation, even if my name wasn't against it, they would know exactly that the allegation was from me. It's very personal to us both. So I'm not sure how any portion of the incident/allegation could then show up on my Ex's SAR whilst retaining my privacy?

1. Should I contact the police and ask them to put in big letters on the incident details not to disclose any aspect of the allegation/incident, not even the date or number?

1. I assume that a SAR is hand curated, and not just the computer pulling all details together for the SAR applicant? Unless certain records are marked in a field as 'confidential' meaning the computer will not include them on a SAR.

Why would your ex do a SAR?
I think you are likely worrying over nothing.

My knowledge of GDPR! But you can also find this on the ICO website.

If revealing the allegation makes it clear that you are the source of the allegation, the police cannot reveal the allegation as doing so would disclose your personal data.

I can't answer your other questions.

Not got any personal experience of this so don't really know any answers but was just wondering why you reported this to the police if you didn't want anything to come of it?

Thank you, I reported it as I was going through a really difficult period at the time and wasn't sure where it was going to lead. But now we've gone our separate ways and I just want to forget about it, and keep things amicable between us for the sake of co-parenting.