Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Annual Report 2019
the 14 investigations appearing in Annex C, 10 were from this high-risk category. We are
therefore pleased to report that the other 496 errors in this area were all discovered before
any potentially harmful action was taken.
18.43
The discovery of these errors at an early stage can be largely attributed to the Error
Reduction Strategy (ERS) produced by the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) – Data
Communications Group in consultation with IPCO. Throughout 2019, we inspected
compliance with the ERS, focusing on the three key peer review stages:
i. accuracy of identifier(s) in the application matched identifier(s) in any source document;
ii. validating the accuracy of the identifiers entered into a TO disclosure system*; and
iii. confirming the identifier(s) in the result match those in the application and or
source document.
*Step eliminated if AA is used (See paras 18.35 and 18.36).
18.44
We found that good audit processes were evidenced. Anomalies identified during peer
review (stage i.) are recorded as ‘near misses’ as no formal reporting to IPCO is required
prior to the application being authorised. Recording ‘near misses’ acts as an indicator, to
the SRO and to our Inspectors, of SPoC staff adhering to the ERS.
18.45
Table 6 shows that the greatest number of major errors were caused by TOs. Those
involving erroneous data from a TO are the most difficult to detect. We continue to
encourage LEAs to mitigate against such errors through corroboration. Uncorroborated
internet-based CD should only be used as the sole basis for action on an exceptional basis.
18.46
The misinterpretation of data was the reason behind four of the investigations found in
Annex C. In three, the results led to certain assumptions that later proved to be incorrect.
In the fourth, open source research identified the wrong social media account of the person
sought. The misinterpretation of accurately acquired data represents a shift in causation
away from the simple transposition errors.
18.47
Because of the large number of applicants and SPoCs, and the potential for similar errors
to be made at different organisations, we believe that the community should be taking
opportunities to learn and make improvements based on the mistakes of others. We have
therefore encouraged the practice of briefing any errors of data misinterpretation, or
errors of a technical nature, to the SPoC community as soon as possible. This means that
the community can assess potential risk at a local level and implement interim solutions,
where necessary. We have found that the level of engagement shown by the Home Office’s
Knowledge Engagement Team and National Communications Data Services Unit, and the
TOs, is crucial to the success of this work and we expect this community to continue to
meet regularly to discuss errors, risks and improvement strategies in line with the National
Error Reduction Strategy for IPAR.
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