Individuals' Rights

The General Data Protection Regulations and Data Protection Act 2018 reinforces existing rights by clarifying and extending them and by introducing new rights. Your information rights will be dependent on the reason why and how the data was collected and why it is being used.

These are your information rights.

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The right to be informed

You have the right to be informed of certain information about our processing activities; we achieve this through this privacy notice. We do not put fair processing or privacy notices on any telephone line that may receive 999 calls, including misrouted ones. This is to ensure the fastest available response to an emergency call to service. You have a right to receive concise, transparent, and intelligible information in a way that is easily accessible and free of charge.

If you need help understanding this information, or need this information in an alternative format, then please email us, or write to us at:

Information Security and Assurance
West Midlands Police
PO Box 52
Birmingham
B4 6NQ

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The right of access 

You have the right to confirmation that your data is being processed, to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you, and to some other supplementary information relating to your personal data. You can request this under a process called Subject Access. West Midlands Police will not usually charge you a fee to apply for this information under Subject Access.

When requesting your own information you will be asked to specify exactly what information you require us to provide. You will be required to provide proof of identification such as a passport or driving licence. Where a request for data is manifestly unfounded or excessive, in particular because it is repetitive, we may either charge a reasonable fee based on the administrative costs ­­­of providing the service, or to refuse to respond. Where this is the case, we will explain why.

Some information we hold about you may be subject to an exemption. Exemptions are different depending upon whether the request is under the General Data Protection Regulations or the Data Protection Act Part 3 but can include:

• Information held for the purpose of safeguarding national security
• Information held for the purpose of preventing and detecting crime, apprehending and prosecuting offenders but only when disclosure to the applicant might prejudice those purposes
• Information relating to other individuals (third party information), unless you provide their written consent and proof of their identity with your request.
• The police service will also consider whether to disclose information to an applicant if it might prejudice the wider public interest or might be relevant to current or future criminal proceedings in the courts

We aim to reply to your request without delay, and in any case, within one month of receipt, however if the request is complex, or there are numerous requests, we may take up to three months to respond. If this is the case, we will notify you within the first month of the delay, and explain why the extension is necessary.

You can make a request under Subject Access by completing this form, and returning it via email, or by writing to us at:

The Civil Disclosure Unit
West Midlands Police
PO Box 52
Birmingham
B4 6NQ

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The right to rectification

You have the right to request that inaccurate data about you corrected. Making such a request will not automatically result in the information being changed.

We may refuse to comply with a request for rectification if the personal data is processed:

• To exercise the right of freedom of expression and information
• To comply with legal obligation, or for the performance of a public interest task, or exercise of official authority
• For public health purposes in the public interest
• Archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research, or statistical purposes
• To exercise or defend a legal claim

If we refuse to comply with your request for rectification, we will explain the reasons we are not taking action, inform you of your right to complain to the ICO, and inform you of your ability to seek to enforce your request though a judicial remedy.

Where a request for rectification is manifestly unfounded or excessive, in particular because it is repetitive, we may either charge a reasonable fee based on the administrative costs of rectification, or to refuse to respond. Where this is the case, we will explain why.

Where possible we will tell other organisations with whom we have disclosed your data that they need to update their records as well; we may not do this if it is impossible, or if it involves disproportionate effort to do so.

We aim to reply to your request without delay, and in any case, within one month of receipt, however if the request is complex, or there are numerous requests, we may take up to three months to respond. If this is the case, we will notify you within the first month of the delay, and explain why the extension is necessary.

If you would like to have personal data we hold about you corrected, then please email us, or write to us at:

Data Protection
Civil Disclosure Unit
West Midlands Police
PO Box 52
Birmingham
B4 6NQ

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The right to erasure

In specific circumstances, you have the right to have your personal data erased, or to prevent processing. These circumstances include:

• Where the personal data is no longer necessary in relation to the purpose for which it was originally collected/processed
• If we rely on consent as the lawful basis for processing, and you withdraw that consent
• When you object to the processing and there is no overriding legitimate interest for continuing the processing
• The personal data was unlawfully processed
• The personal data has to be erased in order to comply with a legal obligation
• The personal data is processed in relation to the offer of information society services to a child

We may refuse to comply with a request for rectification if the personal data is processed:

• To exercise the right of freedom of expression and information
• To comply with legal obligation, or for the performance of a public interest task, or exercise of official authority
• For public health purposes in the public interest
• Archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research, or statistical purposes
• To exercise or defend a legal claim
• We aim to erase your data, or provide a reason why we won’t, without delay, and in any case, within one month of receipt. If the request is complex, or there are numerous requests, we may take up to three months to respond. If this is the case, we will notify you within the first month of the delay, and explain why the extension is necessary.

If we refuse to comply with your request for erasure, we will explain the reasons we are not taking action, inform you of your right to complain to the ICO, and inform you of your ability to seek to enforce your request though a judicial remedy.

Where a request for erasure is manifestly unfounded or excessive, in particular because it is repetitive, we may either charge a reasonable fee based on the administrative costs of rectification, or to refuse to respond. Where this is the case, we will explain why.

Where possible we will tell other organisations with whom we have disclosed your data that they need to update their records as well; we may not do this if it is impossible, or if it involves disproportionate effort to do so.

If you would like to have personal data we hold about you erased, then please email us, or write to us at:

Data Protection
Civil Disclosure Unit
West Midlands Police
PO Box 52
Birmingham
B4 6NQ

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The right to restrict processing

You may require us to restrict the processing of your personal data in the following circumstances:

• Where you contest the accuracy of the personal data, but only until we have verified the accuracy of the personal data
• Where you object to the processing (where it was necessary for the performance of a public interest task or purpose of legitimate interests), and we are considering whether our legitimate grounds override those of the individual
• When processing is unlawful and you oppose erasure and requests restriction instead
• If we no longer need the personal data but you require the data to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim

If we refuse to comply with your request for restriction, we will explain the reasons we are not taking action, inform you of your right to complain to the ICO, and inform you of your ability to seek to enforce your request though a judicial remedy.

Where a request for restriction is manifestly unfounded or excessive, in particular because it is repetitive, we may either charge a reasonable fee based on the administrative costs of rectification, or to refuse to respond. Where this is the case, we will explain why.

Where possible we will tell other organisations with whom we have disclosed your data that they need to update their records as well; we may not do this if it is impossible, or if it involves disproportionate effort to do so.

If you would like to have personal data we hold about you restricted, then please email us, or write to us at:

Information Security and Assurance
West Midlands Police
PO Box 52
Birmingham
B4 6NQ

We will tell you if we decide to lift a restriction on your personal data.

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The right to data portability

If we are processing your personal data using your consent or for the performance of a contract, and the information is being carried out by automated means, then you may request to receive personal data that you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used, and machine readable format. You also have the right to request that we transmit this data directly to another Data Controller.

If this technically feasible, then we will comply with the request, however, there may be legitimate reasons why we cannot undertake the transmission.

Where a request for transmission is manifestly unfounded or excessive, in particular because it is repetitive, we may either charge a reasonable fee based on the administrative costs of transmission, or to refuse to respond. Where this is the case, we will explain why.

If we refuse to comply with your request for transmission, we will explain the reasons we are not taking action, inform you of your right to complain to the ICO, and inform you of your ability to seek to enforce your request though a judicial remedy.

If you would like to have personal data we hold about you transmitted to you or another controller under this right, then please email us, or write to us at:

Information Security and Assurance
West Midlands Police
PO Box 52
Birmingham
B4 6NQ

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The right to object

You have the right to object to any processing based on the performance of a task in the public interest / exercise of an official authority, direct marketing, or processing for scientific or historical research, or statistical purposes.

Although you have the right to object to processing of your personal data for a task in the public interest, we do not always have to have to comply with the request. We will not comply if we are able to demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override your interests, rights and freedoms, or that the processing is for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

If we are processing your personal data for direct marketing, we will always comply with your right to object.

Where an objection is manifestly unfounded or excessive, in particular because it is repetitive, we may either charge a reasonable fee based on the administrative costs of complying with the request, or to refuse to respond. Where this is the case, we will explain why.

If we refuse to comply with your objection, we will explain the reasons we are not taking action, inform you of your right to complain to the ICO, and inform you of your ability to seek to enforce your request though a judicial remedy.

If you would like to object to us processing your personal data, then please email us, or write to us at:

Information Security and Assurance
West Midlands Police
PO Box 52
Birmingham
B4 6NQ

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Rights in relation to automated decision-making and profiling

You have the right not to be subject to automated decision making when that decision is based on automated processing and produces a legal effect or a similarly significant effect on you.

You have the right to obtain human intervention, express your point of view, obtain an explanation of the decision, and to challenge that decision.

This right does not apply if it is necessary for entering into, or performance of, a contract between you and West Midlands Police, if it is authorised in law, or if it is based on explicit consent.

Where we use personal data in profiling activity, we will make sure that we:

• Provide meaningful information about the logic involved in the decision-making process, as well as the significance and the envisaged consequences for the individual
• Use appropriate mathematical or statistical procedures
• Ensure that individuals can obtain human intervention, express their point of view, and obtain an explanation of the decision and challenge it
• Put appropriate technical and organisational measures in place, so that you can correct inaccuracies and minimise the risk of errors;
• Secure personal data in a way that is proportionate to the risk to the interests and rights of the individual, and that prevents discriminatory effects

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