A Solicitor was sent an apology by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) after she was told she could not be provided with a prosecutor’s number due to data protection laws.
Background
In December 2022, Natalie Berman, a partner at a criminal defence firm Edward Fail, Bradshaw & Waterson sent out a tweet stating that the CPS had told her that defence practitioners would no longer be provided with a prosecutor’s direct number due to UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Ms Berman questioned how Criminal Procedure Rules, which state that defence solicitors are required to engage with a CPS reviewing lawyer, could be followed, ‘if we can’t directly call them and they don’t answer emails’.
Following the tweet by Ms Berman, the CPS told the Law Society Gazette that it had apologised for the ‘misunderstanding’. A spokesperson said:
“Early engagement between prosecutors and defence representatives is essential to ensure progress effectively and in a timely fashion and prosecutor contact details will be shared with legal representatives…”
This incident highlights the importance of following due process in criminal proceedings, but can phone numbers be passed on between individuals in other circumstances?
Personal data
Under UK GDPR, personal information is broadly categorised into two categories:
- Information that identifies you: such as your name, address, or date of birth
- Information that relates to you: such as sexual orientation, ethnic background, or religious affiliation
If an organisation records, stores, or uses any piece of information about or relating to a person, this will be considered personal data and the organisation becomes a data controller and is now subject to GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA).
The data controller will have a responsibility to make sure any personal information they have about you is kept confidential, securely stored, and used for appropriate means.
A telephone number directly relates to a person and is information they can be directly identified from. Therefore, it is protected by UK GDPR and revealing a phone number can constitute a breach.
Lawful bases
There are circumstances where revealing a phone number will not breach UK GDPR. This is if it falls within one of the six lawful bases:
- Consent: In that, you have given them consent to share your phone number
- Contractual obligation: In that, you revealed your number to fulfil a contract they had with you
- Legal obligations: If they revealed your number to meet a legal obligation
- Vital interest: If revealing your number was necessary to protect a life
- Public interest: If it was in the public’s interest to reveal your phone number
- Legitimate interest: The company has a legitimate and valid reason to share your phone number
Comment
To follow the procedures in place regarding civil and criminal proceedings, the sharing of information is paramount to ensure effective communication and process. A telephone number is personal data but clearly, in the circumstances of the current case, it would potentially fall within the scope of paragraphs 1 to 3, 5 and 6 above.
How can Nelsons help
If you have any questions concerning the subjects discussed in this article, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our Dispute Resolution team in Derby, Leicester, or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online enquiry form.
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