Consequence:
The police conducted a voluntary interview of an innocent
person.
Error Investigation 15
Error by:
Public Authority
Human or
Technical:
Human
Cause:
Telephone number incorrectly transposed into an application
for communications data.
Data Acquired:
Call data records and consequential subscriber information.
Description:
A police force was investigating the activities of a Registered
Sex Offender (RSO). In an application to a CSP, a digit of a
telephone number was entered incorrectly. The result led an
officer to apply for subscriber data for four telephone numbers
the incorrect number had called. Three of these numbers
belonged to women. A decision was taken to visit each as a
preventative measure. Once all of the visits had been carried
out, no connection to the RSO was established. This caused
the officer to revisit their information, and identify the error.
Consequence:
The police visited the homes of and spoke to three people
unconnected with their investigation.
Error Investigation 16
Error by:
Public Authority
Human or
Technical:
Human
Cause:
Incorrect time conversion.
Data Acquired:
Subscriber information relating to an IP address.
www.iocco-uk.info
75