Report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner - 2016
Description:
A public authority had been investigating the activities of a
paedophile ring. This led to a series of arrests and the seizure of
devices used by the ring to share indecent images of children.
The next stage of the investigation looked at the various
contacts of those arrested. The activities of two such usernames
were the subject of an application to identify the broadband
account holders for various IP address. In the application, the
force backdated the IP addresses of the usernames’ most
recent logons to the time and dates when images had been
shared from the seized computer. This was based on a lack of
understanding about how dynamic IP addresses work: that the
date/time stamp is a critical part of IP address resolutions and
cannot be changed. This meant that the results returned were
not related to the investigation. The force used them as the
basis for an intelligence package, which was sent to two other
police forces. One force, on reviewing the intelligence package,
noticed the error. Unfortunately, this was not in time to stop the
second force from searching a property, making an arrest and
conducting forensic examinations of seized electronic devices.
Consequence:
The police searched an address unconnected with their
investigation, and arrested and interviewed an innocent person
as well as conducted a forensic examination of an electronic
device associated with that person.
Error Investigation 21
Error by:
Public Authority
Human or
Technical:
Human
Cause:
Misinterpretation of communications data.
Data Acquired:
Subscriber information relating to telephone number.
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