Further to the update on the 30th of August, the Metropolitan Police Federation has continued to liaise with the MPS and other stakeholders to establish the facts and confirmation of the steps being taken to safeguard officers’ and their personal data contained on an Operation Fortress warrant card.
We are making representations to the MPS and Digital ID to disclose the contractual terms on which the data was held and processed. The contractual terms are likely to be key evidence in establishing whether the MPS and/or Digital ID have breached your data protection rights, including whether the safeguards were adequate.
Once this information is available it will be assessed by the Federation’s lawyers to evaluate your claims. The lawyers will then set up an online method to obtain your details quickly and efficiently for any group claim.
I would remind you that lawyers outside of the Federation panel are likely to charge additional fees and/or deduct their fees from any damages. Further, if officers decide to commence proceedings with external lawyers, it is possible that they might not be able to join any later Federation funded group action and/or still have to pay the previous lawyers’ fees. Members are asked to carefully consider these risks before agreeing to instruct lawyers outside of the Federation panel.
I will provide a further update in early course.
Matthew Cane
Professional Standards Secretary
