NPCC continues to record names of FOI requesters despite agreeing to end practice
09/10/2025 | BBC News
The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) has reversed its commitment to reform how it handles Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, prompting campaigners to demand an external investigation. The NPCC central referral unit was previously criticised for recording the identities of FOI requesters when advising local forces, a practice that risks breaching the applicant blind principle of transparency laws.
The unit had agreed to stop recording names from March 2025, but a BBC investigation found that requester details were logged in 97% of cases between March and June. The unit's head, Ashleigh Beney, confirmed the reform had been abandoned after consultation, stating that the practice was transparent, within the law, and used to check for repeat or vexatious requests and assess the public safety impact. However, Amnesty International UK called the U-turn a "deeply troubling practice that must be halted immediately," pending an Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) inquiry.
What is this page?
You are reading a summary article on the Privacy Newsfeed, a free resource for DPOs and other professionals with privacy or data protection responsibilities helping them stay informed of industry news all in one place. The information here is a brief snippet relating to a single piece of original content or several articles about a common topic or thread. The main contributor is listed in the top left-hand corner, just beneath the article title.
The Privacy Newsfeed monitors over 300 global publications, of which more than 6,250 summary articles have been posted to the online archive dating back to the beginning of 2020. A weekly roundup is available by email every Friday.