IPCO Annual Report 2017
10. Bulk Personal Datasets
Description of powers and use
10.1
A bulk personal dataset(BPD) is a collection of data that includes information which identifies a
large number of people, for instance by their names or addresses. Most will not be of interest
to the intelligence agencies. These datasets may include, for example, the electoral roll or the
telephone directory.
10.2
Historically (including the 2017 period to which this report relates), there was no statutory
framework as to how the intelligence agencies retain and use bulk datasets. This meant that
they each have developed discrete internal processes for the retention and use, as well as
the internal review, of BPD.
10.3
The intelligence agencies use BPDs in a variety of ways to research individuals of interest.
BPDs hold a considerable quantity of information that enables an agency to build a profile
of someone in whom they are interested without using more intrusive methods. The
intelligence agencies suggest that examining these datasets helps limit the intrusion into
a target’s privacy, whilst accepting that self-evidently there is intrusion into the privacy of
members of the public who are not targets and whose data is captured in the BPD, but
will not necessarily be selected for examination. However, database search results are
structured so that the officer does not view the details of other individuals if their data
is not relevant to the particular search. It is suggested this greatly limits any collateral
intrusion because it very significantly reduces the extent to which analysts will ever need
to look at the personal details or identities of general members of the public.
10.4
Lord Anderson’s review58 contains numerous examples of BPDs and how they have been used
by the intelligence agencies, including:
• Law enforcement and intelligence agencies: datasets containing operationally focused
information;
• Travel: datasets containing information which provides details of travel activity;
• Communications: datasets enabling the identification of individuals from communications
data, e.g. a telephone directory;
• Finance: datasets allowing the identification of finance-related activity;
• Population: datasets providing population data or other information which could be used
to help the task of identification, e.g. passport details; and
• Commercial: datasets providing details of corporations / individuals involved in
commercial activities.
58 Report of the Bulk Powers Review, August 2016 –
https://terrorismlegislationreviewer.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Bulk-Powers-Review-final-report.pdf
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