Open call for evidence

Privacy notice

Published 4 November 2026

Applies to England and Wales

General information

The government launched an independent review to assess the systemic issues in the end-to-end police accountability system on 30 July 2026.

The review will recommend reforms to ensure the police accountability system maintains the confidence of the public and the police, as detailed in the Police Reform White Paper.

The review is being chaired by Dame Lynne Owens and Jason Beer KC and the terms of reference have been published. The Home Secretary has committed to publishing a response to the review.

The secretariat for the independent review is seeking views, evidence and insight to inform the independent review of the police accountability system. This call for evidence closes at 11:59 pm on Friday 15 January 2027.

Although the collection of personal data is not mandatory with your response to this consultation, this privacy notice covers how Home Office will process the personal data you may choose to provide.

The call for evidence is focused on obtaining views for the review. This privacy notice covers activity undertaken as part of the consultation only.

Controller’s contact details

The Home Office is the data controller for any personal information processed as part of this call for evidence.

If you have any questions about the content of this document or think your personal data has been misused or mishandled, please contact: policeaccountabilityreview@homeoffice.gov.uk

For press or media enquiries, you can contact the Senior Communications Adviser to the independent review Lucy Mundy on 07549 406 679 or email lucy@lucham.com.

This privacy notice tells you what you can expect the Home Office to do with your personal information we process as part of the above call for evidence.

We will tell you:

• what personal information will be collected as part of the call for evidence, and why
• our legal basis for processing your personal information
• where we keep your personal information
• how long we will keep your information
• your rights relating to the personal information we hold
• how we will share your information
• your right to complain

What personal data will be collected, and why

As part of the consultation, the Home Office will process personal data provided by any individuals or organisations who submit responses to the online call for evidence.

Those responding, either as individuals or on behalf of organisations, to the online consultation survey may voluntarily provide information that includes:

• contact email address and name
• free text responses to the questions raised as part of the consultation; and
• connectivity data: data collected from accessing and completing the survey online, such as from cookies, use of IP address and similar

We will take your response into account, as far as possible, with all other responses to the call for evidence. If you provide contact details, we may contact you directly inviting you to give your views, opinions and experiences in response to a new or follow up exercise.

If you no longer wish to be contacted as part of this service, please let us know by emailing policeaccountabilityreview@homeoffice.gov.uk.

Information provided to the Home Office in response to a call for evidence may be published or disclosed in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). If the Home Office receives a request for disclosure of the information they will take full account of your explanation, but the Home Office cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances.

The Home Office may also need to pass on information you provide, if it indicates that an individual is at imminent risk of harm. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your information technology system will not be regarded as binding on us.

The legal basis for processing your personal information

The Home Office’s legal basis for processing your personal data as part of the call for evidence is that it is necessary for the performance of a public task or exercise of an official duty (Article 6(1)(e) UK GDPR).

The legal basis for processing any sensitive personal data (also known as special category data) such as racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, or health data, is that it is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest (Article 9(2)(g) UK GDPR) for the exercise of a function conferred on a person by an enactment, or the exercise of a function of a Minister or the Crown.

Where we keep your personal information

We keep your information secure and only share it with those who have a need to see it. All personal information we receive is handled fairly and lawfully in line with data protection legislation. 

Your personal data is stored in systems owned by our data processors and not transferred outside of the UK. 

How long we keep your personal information

All personal details provided to us by those wishing to share their views through the call for evidence, either through the online survey or the engagement events, will be securely destroyed at the close of the review.  

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have rights over your personal data. The rights available to you depend on our reason for processing your information.

• Your right of access: You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information. This right applies for all processing. There are some exemptions, which means we may not always be able to provide all the information we process.
• Your right to rectification: You have the right to ask us to correct information you think is inaccurate or to complete information you think is incomplete. This right always applies.
• Your right to restrict processing: If you have concerns about the accuracy of your information, or about how it is being used, you have the right to restrict the processing until your concerns have been resolved.
• Your right to object to processing: You have the right to object to processing when we are processing your personal information to perform our public task. If you wish to object to processing, the Home Office will assess whether the requirements of the public task outweigh the grounds of the objection and the DPO will inform you of the outcome of the assessment.

You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. We have one month to respond to you.

If you would like to exercise any of the above rights, please contact: info.access@homeoffice.gov.uk.

Or write to us at:

Information Rights Team
Home Office
Lower Ground Floor, Seacole Building
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

Sharing your information

The Home Office has a clear safeguarding responsibility to take reasonable steps to keep all members of the public safe and to respond appropriately to any concerns that arise in connection with its work. These steps may include passing information to authorities such as the police or social care. It will only do so when the Home Office has cause to believe that a person is at risk of serious or significant harm and/or a crime has been or is being committed.

The purpose of the inquiry is not to directly prosecute individuals or make findings of civil or criminal liability.

Your right to complain

If you have wish to complain about how the Home Office has managed and used your personal data, you can email policeaccountabilityreview@homeoffice.gov.uk

The Home Office also has a Data Protection Officer who can be contacted if you wish. Contacting the DPO by email at dpo@homeoffice.gov.uk is the quickest way to bring your questions and concerns to the attention of the Office of the DPO.

If you are unable to email, you can write to the address below, but this may mean that the Office of the DPO takes longer to reply.

Office of the DPO
Home Office
Peel Building
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

If you then remain concerned about how your personal information is being processed, you can make a complaint to the ICO as the UK supervisory authority.

The ICO can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Helpline: 0303 123 1113