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This letter resulted in the demand for money from a 14 year-old girl who had not been convicted of any crime, being dropped and an assurance that her details would not appear on any database.
Legal Action for Women Crossroads Women’s Centre PO Box 287 London NW6 5QU Tel: 020 7482 2496 minicom/voice Fax: 020 7209 4761 E-mail: law@crossroadswomen.net
Information Commissioner’s Office Wycliffe House Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF Dear Sir/Madam,
We write on behalf of Ms R, a young woman who is being pursued for £137.50 as part of a Civil Recovery Programme by OPOS Limited on behalf of Boots The Chemist. We would like to draw to your attention the fact that Ms R has been told that her details have been put on a “national database of incidents of dishonesty”.
OPOS claims that Ms R “committed a wrongful act” against Boots The Chemist on 11 December 2008. Ms R vigorously denies that she committed any such act. She had a discussion with the police in relation to an incident but no “appropriate adult” was present, and Ms R was understandably very distressed and confused by the whole process. Crucially the police did not charge Ms R, and took no further action whatsoever in this matter. We do not therefore understand how OPOS can justify imposing what is effectively a “fine” of £137.50 on Ms R.
Ms R has been very troubled by the correspondence she has received from OPOS and from RLP Ltd previously. We wrote to OPOS on her behalf, asking them to take no further action and raising our concerns that she is a vulnerable 14-year old child, and it is inappropriate and unjustified for her to be pursued in this way. They have refused to answer our concerns and have stated their intention of continuing to pursue her. We have written to the Chief Executive of Boots asking them to withdraw the action but have received no reply.
We write to draw your attention to information Ms R was given in earlier letters from RLP Limited, stating that:
“all personal information regarding your wrongful act is now held on a national database of incidents of dishonesty. This information is available to companies with a legitimate interest to screen an individual’s integrity in relation to employment decisions”.
We are very concerned about this “national database of incidents of dishonesty” and asked OPOS the following questions which they have not answered. We would like your advice on how we might pursue this matter further, both to find out what material is held about Ms R and how to challenge it being there.
· Under what authority is information about Ms R being kept on such a database? · Who judges the accuracy of the information especially when the person has not been charged or convicted? · How can allegations of wrongdoing be made when the person themselves has not been given the opportunity to refute them? · Who administers the database? · What protections are in place to protect against abuses of the information? · How long is any information kept on this database and who has access to it? · We would like an immediate copy of the complete entry that relates to Ms R.
We would appreciate your response to these questions as a matter of urgency.
Yours sincerely, Niki Adams
Cc Sarah Teather MP
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