2011 Annual Report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner
communications data, and between them they made a total of 2,130 requests. This is an increase
from the previous year’s figures (134 local authorities, 1,809 requests).
“58% [of the 141 local authorities that made use of their powers in 2011] made
less than 10 requests”
To put this figure into context, it represents just 0.4% of all communications data requests
submitted by public authorities. 79% of the 141 local authorities made less than 20 requests in
the reporting period and 58% made less than 10 requests. These percentages are very similar to
the previous reporting year.
Figure 10 illustrates that 90% of the 2,130 requests were for subscriber data under Section 21(4)
(c) (i.e. name and address). Local authorities predominantly acquire subscriber data in order to
identify the unknown suspect/s thought to be responsible for particular criminal offence/s. Only
23 of the 141 local authorities acquired service use data under Section 21(4) (b) or a combination
of Section 21(4) (c) and (b) data and this accounted for the remaining 10% of requests.
Figure 10 – Local Authority Communications Data Usage
2% Combination
Service Use Data
8%
Subscriber Data
90%
The National Anti-Fraud Network (NAFN) continues to provide a national SPoC facility to
those local authorities who wish to use their service. 96 of the local authorities who used
their powers this year reported that they are now submitting their requests through NAFN.
NAFN was inspected twice during the reporting year due to the increase in the number of local
authorities that have signed up to their service. Approximately 70% of the 2,130 requests were
managed by the NAFN SPoC Service and this is a significant increase from last year (34%). During
the NAFN inspection, my inspectors examined the communications data requests made by 71
individual local authorities. I am pleased to report that NAFN emerged very well from both of
their inspections. The Accredited SPoCs at NAFN are providing an excellent service. Overall
NAFN is achieving a good level of compliance with the Act and Code of Practice on behalf of its
local authority members.
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