Report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner - 2016
Cause:
Telephone number incorrectly recorded in a police force’s
intelligence system.
Data Acquired:
Subscriber information and call records relating to a mobile
telephone number.
Description:
A police force was investigating a murder. Officers decided
to conduct analysis of numbers linked to the investigation in
order to eliminate them from their lines of inquiry. They made
an application to obtain the subscriber details and associated
call records data for one of these numbers, which had been
recorded incorrectly in a police database. The data returned
placed its user and all of its activities hundreds of miles away
from where the murder took place. The officer made contact
with the number, and was satisfied that the person was not
connected with the murder. The officer referred back to the
original documentation and noticed that an error had been
made. Over the next few days, the recipient of the call became
worried that it might not be genuine and visited his local police
station.
Consequence:
The police contacted an individual unconnected to their
investigation.
Error Investigation 20
Error by:
Public Authority
Human or
Technical:
Human
Cause:
Misinterpretation of communications data.
Data Acquired:
Subscriber information relating to an IP address.
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@iocco_oversight