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Information Charter - How we use the information we collect: The Revenue & Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO)

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Contents

Foreword

The information contained in this notice was up to date at the month shown on the cover

1 About this Charter

This is our charter on how we use the information we collect about you and other people. It explains the procedures we follow and the standards you can expect from us. It also explains your rights and how you can get access to the information we hold about you.

Your rights are protected by the Data Protection Act 1998, which came into force on 1 March 2000. This charter does not replace the law. It aims to show how we will obey the law when we use the information that we collect.

In the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office we take privacy and confidentiality very seriously and we are determined to make sure that we respect your rights. That's why this guide is also meant for our officers, to help make sure that they understand the rules and stick to them.

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2 What information do we get?

As part of our work we may get information about you:

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3 How do we use the information we get?

The RCPO obtains information about you in criminal case files for the purpose of advising on an investigation or conducting prosecutions for offences investigated by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Under Section 40 of the Commissioners of Revenue and Customs Act 2005 the RCPO may not disclose information which is held in connection with any of its functions and relates to a person whose identity is disclosed in the disclosure or can be deduced from it. However, the disclosure will not be unlawful if made for certain specified purposes, Section 40(2), which includes disclosures made for the purpose of criminal investigation or criminal proceedings.

Sometimes we are also required by law to provide information to the courts.

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4 How do we secure our information?

The RCPO routinely handles information with varying degrees of sensitivity and it is vital that such information is properly identified, protectively marked and given the appropriate level of security in terms of storage and subsequent handling in accordance with the security requirements of the Civil Service, as laid down by the Cabinet Office.

Detailed processes and are procedures are in place to ensure the secure transmission, handling and storage of data based on the Cabinet Office instructions.

For enquiries in relation to security of our information please contact:

The RCPO switchboard on 0207 147 7500.

For any complaints please write to:

The Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office
Private Office
2nd Floor
New King's Beam House
22 Upper Ground
London SE1 9BT

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5 Your rights and how we protect them

When it comes to the information that we hold about you, your rights are clearly set out in the law. The Data Protection Act 1998 also says that people who record and use personal information must be open about how it is used, and that we must obey 8 Data Protection Principles.
In some cases the law exempts us from these principles. This is normally where obeying the principles would damage the fight against crime, or be against the national interest in some way.
This part of the charter explains what the principles are and how we will obey them. Remember that it is simply an explanation. The Charter does not attempt to replace the Act itself.
In broad terms, the Data Protection Principles state that when dealing with people's personal information, we must:

  1. Process it fairly and lawfully
    Processing includes "obtaining, recording or holding information". We must only get it fairly and lawfully. We have to tell you why the information is needed and how we may use it. We have explained this in Section 3 of this Charter. We will only process the information in ways that the law allows. The law imposes extra conditions on us where we are dealing with sensitive information. Information is considered to be sensitive if it deals with racial or ethnic origin; political opinions; religion; trade union membership; physical or mental health; sexual life; and offences or convictions and court proceedings. We will be sure to meet these requirements.
  2. Only use it for the purpose(s) that we obtained it for and not for other reasons incompatible with that purpose
    If we get information about you, we will ensure that we only use it in ways that the law allows.
  3. Only process information that is adequate, relevant and not excessive
    We will only process the information that we need in order to do our job.
  4. Ensure that the information is accurate and, where necessary, up to date
    We will do all that we reasonably can to ensure that we only hold accurate information. We will review it regularly and where we see that something is out of date we will either update it or delete it. We will take all reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy of the information people give to us.
  5. Ensure that the information is not kept longer than is necessary
    We will review the information we hold regularly to see whether we still need it to do our work. If we don't still need it we will delete it. We won't keep information "just in case" it might become useful in the future.
  6. Treat the information in accordance with your rights
    Amongst other rights provided to you by the 6th Data Protection Principle, you have a right:
    • to know what personal information we hold about you;
    • to ask us to amend any personal information that is incorrect;
    • to ask us to delete any personal information which we should not be keeping.

Section 6 of this charter (below) tells you how to contact us if you want to know more about the information that we hold about you.

  1. Take care of your information
    We will always do everything necessary to take very good care of any information about you that we hold. As part of this we will always do what is required under the law to protect your information. This includes:
    • ensuring the integrity of staff who have access to personal information;
    • treating your personal information as confidential. This means that our officers must follow our security guidelines on how information should be stored and handled. Our procedures include the need to use personal identification devices and screen-saver passwords in order to get access to your information. We will also be sure to keep your information in secure conditions;
    • only letting authorised people see your personal information. Our officers will only be authorised if they genuinely need to see it in order to do their work;
    • only sharing your information (for example, with another government department) in ways that the law allows.

If any of our officers made unauthorised disclosure of confidential taxpayer information they would be subject to criminal penalties.

  1. Not transfer personal information outside the European Economic Area (EEA) unless there are suitable safeguards in the destination country
    The EEA is made up of the 15 member states of the European Union, plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. We will only send personal information abroad in cases where the law allows it. Not all countries have Data Protection law, so before we send personal information outside the EEA we must be satisfied that there is an adequate level of protection for the individual's personal data in the destination country.

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6 Where to get more information about the Data Protection Act 1998

You can get more information, including detailed guidance notes, from the Information Commissioner's Office. The address and other contact details are in Section 7 of this notice.

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7 What to do if you want to know more about the information we hold

The Data Protection Act 1998 gives you the right to ask to see details of any personal information that we hold about you. So that we can be sure that we are only providing information to the right person, we would ask you to make your request in writing to the Information Officer. A fee of £10 is payable in advance by cheque, which should be made payable to the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office.

The address to write to is:

The Information Officer
The Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office
2nd Floor
New King's Beam House
22 Upper Ground
London SE1 9BT

Be sure to include your name and address so that we can reply. We will respond to your request within 40 days. It will help us to deal with your request if you also tell us:

Or you can email us at: information.officer@rcpo.gsi.gov.uk

You should remember, however, that the law allows us to refuse your request in some cases. For example, we are allowed to refuse requests where providing the information would be likely to prejudice:

We will do our best to apply these conditions as narrowly as we can, without damaging the effectiveness of our work, so that we can meet your requests as often as possible.

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8 What to do if you are unhappy with our response

If you have asked for details of the information we hold about you and you are not happy with our response, you can complain to us.
You should write to us at the address shown in Section 6, explaining why you are not satisfied.
We will look into your complaint and will reply to you within 10 working days.

If you are still not happy with our response, or if you believe that we have broken one of the Data Protection Principles (or any other requirements of the Act), then you can ask the Information Commissioner to assess whether we had contravened the Data Protection Act 1998

The Information Commissioner

You can get further information in the Information Commissioner's leaflet "Using the law to protect your information".

The Commissioner's office provides a free and independent service and can be contacted at:

Address The Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Information line 01625 545745
Fax 01625 524510
Web site http://www.dataprotection.gov.uk/
Email data@wycliffe.demon.co.uk

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Do you have any comments?

We would be pleased to receive any comments or suggestions you may have about this notice. Please write to:

The Chief Operating Officer
The Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office
2nd Floor
New King's Beam House
LONDON
SE1 9BT

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