A UK regulator has reprimanded Surrey and Sussex police for unlawfully recording more than 200,000 phone conversations and capturing personal data without the knowledge of the callers.
The Information Commissioner’s Office, which is the independent regulatory body for data protection, said on Tuesday that it had become aware in 2020 that 1,015 staff at both police forces had downloaded a mobile phone app that recorded incoming and outgoing calls.
The software was originally intended for use only by a small number of specialist police personnel but had been made widely available.
The revelations come as public confidence in the police in England has plunged following a spate of scandals involving racism, sexism and bullying, and the conviction of one officer in London’s Metropolitan Police for murder and another on multiple charges of rape.
“Sussex Police and Surrey Police failed to use people’s personal data lawfully by recording hundreds of thousands of phone calls…