Port of Dover

ICO reprimands Dover Harbour Board and Kent Police over information sharing

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
Failure, PECR, Employment, Kent Police, Information, Freedom, Telecommunications, Social media, EIR, WhatsApp, Port of Dover, Privacy, ICO, Environmental Information Regulations 2004, Public sector, Information privacy, Data wrangling, FOIA, International law, Cryptocurrency

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued reprimands to Dover Harbour Board and Kent Police after they breached data protection law.

Key Points: 
  • The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued reprimands to Dover Harbour Board and Kent Police after they breached data protection law.
  • The ICO found evidence that personal information was being shared in the group without appropriate safeguards in place.
  • The ICO found that Dover Harbour Board had an inadequate awareness of, and compliance with, data protection law and that its data protection training was insufficient for operational policing purposes.
  • But the use of these apps was the wrong approach and demonstrated a failure by both Dover Harbour Board and Kent Police to ensure their officers keep people’s personal information safe and secure.

Dover Harbour Board

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
Port of Dover, ICO, Social media, International law, Port, Legislation, WhatsApp

A reprimand is being issued to Dover Harbour Board in respect of the creation and use of a social media distribution group, initially created in WhatsApp but later migrated to Telegram.

Key Points: 
  • A reprimand is being issued to Dover Harbour Board in respect of the creation and use of a social media distribution group, initially created in WhatsApp but later migrated to Telegram.
  • From the evidence provided to the ICO, the distribution groups were used by multiple UK police forces and international law enforcement agencies for the purpose of combatting vehicle crime.
  • The distribution groups were created by an officer from the Port of Dover Police using his personal mobile phone without organisational oversight or compliance with data protection legislation.