Victims of revenge porn aged under 18 in 2021

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.023487

I note you seek access to the following information:

Numbers of reported cases and outcomes for Disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress under Section 33 of Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 for the years 2021(Jan-Dec) where the victim is 18 or over.

We would also like this to include threats to share private sexual images, under section 69 of the domestic abuse act Also for Voyeurism (under Voyeurism (Offences) Act 2019) under the same conditions for

And Extortion (under Section 21 of the Theft Act 1968 - Under the same conditions for:

• Cases of the crimes and subsequent outcomes:
o Arrests
o Cautions given
o Offenders charged and number of charges
o Community resolution
o Cases marked No Further Action

Decision

I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:

Section 40(2)(3)&(4) – Personal Information

Reason for decision

Before I explain the reasons for the decisions I have made in relation to your request, I thought that it would be helpful if I outline the parameters set out by the Act within which a request for information can be answered. The Act creates a statutory right of access to information held by public authorities. A public authority in receipt of a request must, if permitted, confirm if the requested information is held by that public authority and, if so, then communicate that information to the applicant.

The right of access to information is not without exception and is subject to a number of exemptions which are designed to enable public authorities to withhold information that is not suitable for release. Importantly, the Act is designed to place information into the public domain, that is, once access to information is granted to one person under the Act, it is then considered public information and must be communicated to any individual should a request be received.

Details of an investigation could cause an individual to be identified and is therefore exempted in this case.
Section 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 confirms that information which relates to an identified or identifiable living individual is Personal Data.

The Freedom of Information Act provides an exemption for Personal Data and this is known as the section 40 exemption.

Some of the information sought under your Freedom of Information request includes the following which we consider to be Personal Data

• Low numbers of offences that could, if disclosed, identify an individual.

Where the request is seeking access to third party personal data the section 40(2) exemption may be engaged.

In order to apply the Section 40(2) exemption the disclosure of the requested information must satisfy either the first, second or third conditions as defined by subsections 3A, 3B and 4A of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (as amended by Section 58 of the Data Protection Act 2018).

The first condition ensures that the exemption would apply in circumstances where the disclosure of the information would breach any of the Data Protection Act 2018 principles.

There are six Data Protection principles set out in the 2018 act and these can be found at section 34.

In this instance I have decided that the disclosure of the Personal Data would be incompatible with the first Data Protection principle which states that the processing (in this case the disclosure) of the data must be both lawful and fair.

Such a disclosure would therefore contravene the first data protection principle.
When considering identifiability it should be assumed that the MPS are not looking just at the means reasonably likely to be used by the ordinary person in the street, but also the means that are likely to be used by a determined person with a particular reason to want to identify individuals.

Identified’ does not necessarily mean ‘named’. It can be enough to be able to establish a reliable connection between particular information and a known individual.’

I have applied the exemption provided under Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act to this information as the first condition, defined in subsection 3(A)(a) of Section 40 has been satisfied.

Disclosure

The harm of disclosure is reduced by redacting the low numbers. Please find attached a spreadsheet pursuant to your request for information.

Table titled - Outcomes of Offences Where Victim Recorded Age is 18 and over - Recorded between 01/01/2021 and 31/12/2021.

• The following outcomes were redacted as the numbers were low and people could be identified within the data.
• Caution – youth
• Caution – adult
• Charge/Summons Alternate offence
• Transferred to External Agency
• Adult offender cautioned alternate offence