The below is my complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office regarding Herefordshire Council’s extensive searching for, collecting and sharing of data concerning my web presence, social media and websites for no less than five years; much of it without RIPA or legal authority, while during the same period harassing me and issuing multiple threats of legal action.
It included the communications between me and their lead case, who not only changed the reason for my complaint but conducted a bias investigation, at first undecided on data protection and later unwilling to hold the local council accountable for the distress and irreversible harm caused.
Below is a redacted copy of my email complaint to the ICO
1 ICO Complaint Herefordshire Council data gathering_Redacted
After the ICO received my email and viewed it on Mon, 22 Aug 2022, 15:07 it was a further month before I received the emailed response below and the attached letter, to which I replied.
2 ICO Complaint Herefordshire Council data gathering_Redacted2 ICO Complaint Herefordshire Council data gathering_Redacted attachment
After my email of 23rd September to the ICO they responded on the 7th October, as below
3 Your email to the ICO - Case Reference IC-188010-V0J0_Redacted
On the 8th November, I emailed and asked the ICO for an update
4 Your email to the ICO - Case Reference IC-188010-V0J0_Redacted
I received a response from the ICO on 11th November telling me the case had been allocated to a case officer
5 Your email to the ICO - Case Reference IC-188010-V0J0_Redacted
After this date, on 18th November, I received the below email from the ICO saying “You have expressed concerns about “Herefordshire Council’s distressing extended monitoring, spying, data collection & sharing without lawful authority”. While some of these emails are repeated, I enclose these because the ICO broke from the original chain of emails.
6 Your email to the ICO - Case Reference IC-188010-V0J0_Redacted
The next chain of emails with ICO. Herefordshire Council continues to search the internet and monitor my social media and web presence during this time, with an attempt to follow me on Twitter which I refused and blocked.
7 Your email to the ICO - Case Reference IC-188010-V0J0_Redacted
On the 9th of January, I emailed the ICO’s Ms Fletcher and asked for copies of communications between them and Herefordshire council
8 Your email to the ICO - Case Reference IC-188010-V0J0_Redacted
On 13 January, I received the below email from the ICO’s Ms Fletcher
9 Your email to the ICO - Case Reference IC-188010-V0J0_Redacted
I also received an email of acknowledgement of my request for copies of communications between the ICO and Herefordshire Council with a new case reference number
10 Acknowledgement of information request - ICO Case Reference_ IC-210462-S3H6_Redacted
On 16th January I received the below email from the ICO’s Ms Fletcher, with me replying on the 26th of January
10a ICO Case Reference_ IC-188010-V0J0_Redacted
Between the 16th and 26th of January, on the 18th of January I received the following email response and attachments regarding my request for copies of communications between the ICO and Herefordshire Council
11 Response to your Information Request - ICO Case Reference_ IC-210462-S3H6_Redacted
Attachment Response Letter (IC-210462-S3H6)
12 Response Letter (IC-210462-S3H6)_Redacted
Attachment Response Bundle (IC-210462-S3H6)
13 Response Bundle (IC-210462-S3H6) Redacted
The next email from the ICO was on 3rd February.
To date, I believe the ICO to be defensive of Herefordshire Council and obstructive rather than helpful. At no point have I been permitted to see any information Herefordshire Council may have sent to the ICO, and the ICO while disregarding distress caused and my statements that restrictions were in place regarding Herefordshire Council, they have not once told me what specific evidence I need to provide, nor have they confirmed or denied that they will fine Herefordshire Council for over 5 years of direct surveillance, data collection and sharing of social media and web presence.
Below is my reply email of 19th February to the ICO’s Ms Fletcher
15 Your email to the ICO - Case Reference IC-188010-V0J0_Redacted
below is the ICO’s reply to my request of the 19th February. In the meantime I will write to Herefordshire Council, mindful that their monitoring and surveillance of my web presence continues.
16 Response ICO Case reference_ IC-219405-L7F6_Redacted
I also received (below) a response from MS Fletcher, the individual investigating my complaint regarding Herefordshire Council and the at least six years of monitoring and surveillance of my internet presence. Ms Fletcher has chosen to evade telling me what specific evidence she requires to ‘categorically indicate’, Herefordshire Council flouted or violated DPA or RIPA for the purpose of my complaint and the ICO holding Herefordshire Council to account.
17 response ICO - Case Reference IC-188010-V0J0_Redacted
Having received Ms Fletcher’s somewhat evasive email, I have replied as follows, asking, once again, what evidence I need to provide for the ICO so they can conclude the case and ruling. I await a reply.
18 - Your email to the ICO - Case Reference IC-188010-V0J0_Redacted
I also posted a letter to Paul Walker the CEO of Herefordshire Council on 8th March, that letter can be read below.
The letter can be read below
Letter to Herefordshire Council Paul Walker Re Dates of Surveillance 06-03-2023_Redacted
As my last email was being sent to MS Fletcher, I also received the below email from the ICO containing two attachments
20 Response to Information Request - ICO Case Reference_ IC-219405-L7F6_Redacted
The attachments
21 IC-219405-L7F6 Response Letter_Redacted22 IC-219405-L7F6 Information Disclosure
The below is a copy of my request to Herefordshire Council, which Ms Helen Worth inaccurately copied in her response to the ICO’s Ms Fletcher.
22a Request for missing data 13-04-2022_Redacted
Below is a pdf of a spreadsheet of some of the visits to this website by Herefordshire Council from their internet searches and visits to my social media. The council attempted to follow me on social media (contrary to their own policy) which I refused and blocked and made multiple vexatious threats of legal action during the period these dates cover.
It’s evident to me that when the council realised I had blocked their main network they switched to using a VPN service to continue their surveillance of my web presence, social media and the whileincare websites.
The spreadsheet itself can be downloaded & viewed from the link below and contains referrers of the searches Herefordshire Council staff used.
24 Hereford Council IP remote access some visits basic info
Knowing Herefordshire Council was watching my social media, comments and viewed pages of the website before and during a Court of Protection case also clarifies their staff were wilfully prepared to mislead and deceive the courts.
Below is the latest response from the ICO’s Ms Fletcher, again avoiding answering my question as to what further evidence I need to provide regarding their investigation concerning Herefordshire Council’s extensive, no less than six years, of direct monitoring & surveillance of my web presence and social media, and to show they flouted or violated DPA and RIPA.
25 Your email to the ICO - Case Reference IC-188010-V0J0_Redacted
If Herefordshire Council haven’t been monitoring my web presence and social media, as declared to the ICO on 12th January 2023, and contrary to factual evidence I provided to the ICO, why did Herefordshire Council staff ask for the latest details regarding my social media in 2021 and continue direct covert monitoring without legal authority while threatening me with legal action?
The answer is they lied to the ICO and are attempting to conceal the truth.
See the below which the ICO has seen a copy of and read.
Helen Worth’s declaration to the ICO also conflicts with her statement of 12 January 2023 and the below offer during 2021 of ‘investigation work’, is also conflicts with logs of Herefordshire Council staff’s many visits to my social media and website via the use of a VPN to circumvent the block imposed on Herefordshire Council’s network IP addresses
4. Fancy investigation work_0018
Today I emailed the ICO’s Fletcher, asking for a third time, what evidence I need to provide regarding their investigation concerning Herefordshire Council that shows they flouted or violated DPA and RIPA. A copy of that email is below. I suspect they will not tell me what evidence is needed.
27 Your email to the ICO - Case Reference IC-188010-V0J0 1
Ten days passed, I didn’t receive a response from Ms Fletcher regarding my third attempt asking what further evidence I needed to provide, mindful of the fact that Ms Fletcher stated she had viewed evidence from Herefordshire Council when a separate SAR to the ICO showed the only ‘evidence’ or rather statement provided by Herefordshire Council was the email from information governance at Herefordshire Council dates 12th January 2023, which I have already posted above.
I next emailed the ICO to request a case review due to the poor handling and disregard of distress caused, as below.
On 13th April 2023, the day after submitting my request for a review of the case, I received the below email from Ms Fletcher
29 Your email to the ICO - Case Reference IC-188010-V0J0_Redacted
On 25th April 2023, I received the below email from Rachel Webster of the ICO, with attached letter of review of the case.
30 Your email to the ICO - Case Reference IC-188010-V0J0_Redacted
Below is Ms Webster’s attached outcome letter to me regarding my complaint and the poor investigation by her ICO colleague
30a Case review and service complaint response 25.4.23_Redacted
By failing to conduct a thorough investigation, with such apparent bias, and the reviewer of the case ignoring failures and refusing to hold Herefordshire Council to account, I believe the Information Commissioner’s Office has essentially approved that any local council can disregard laws regarding data and the surveillance of any private individual.
The ignorance of the distress, even the harm it causes, and the unrestricted misuse of gathered data, no concern to the ICO regardless of GDPR, DPA or RIPA.
Further, Section 173(3), of The Data Protection Act 2018 makes it an offence to alter, deface, block, erase, destroy or conceal information with the intention of preventing disclosure to individuals under the subject access provisions. So why did Alison Fletcher & Rachel Webster both disregard this fact and help Herefordshire Council conceal their unlawful spying?
The section of legislation I refer to:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/12/section/173