Privacy Policy

Your privacy is important to us. This policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal data in compliance with UK data protection laws.

Last Updated: December 2025

1 Introduction

OpenPolice ("we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our UK police accountability platform.

We comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and other applicable data protection legislation.

By using OpenPolice, you consent to the data practices described in this policy. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not use our platform.

2 Data Controller

OpenPolice is the data controller responsible for your personal data. We determine the purposes and means of processing personal data collected through our platform.

Contact: For data protection inquiries, please use our contact form.

Location: United Kingdom

3 Information We Collect

Information You Provide

Account Information: Username/alias, email address, and password when you register
Report Submissions: Details you provide when submitting reports about police conduct
Communications: Messages you send through our contact form or support channels
Profile Data: Optional information you add to your profile

Information Collected Automatically

Device Information: Browser type, operating system, and device identifiers
Usage Data: Pages visited, time spent on pages, and navigation patterns
IP Address: Your internet protocol address (may be anonymised)
Cookies: Small data files stored on your device (see Cookies section)

Information from Third Parties

Web3 Wallet Data: Public wallet address if you choose to login via MetaMask or WalletConnect
Public Data Sources: We aggregate publicly available information about police forces, courts, and related institutions

4 How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide, maintain, and improve our platform services
To process and manage your account registration
To handle and track reports you submit
To communicate with you about your account or submissions
To send you updates about cases you follow (with your consent)
To analyse usage patterns and improve user experience
To detect, prevent, and address technical issues or abuse
To comply with legal obligations

5 Legal Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we process your personal data based on the following lawful bases:

Consent

You have given clear consent for us to process your personal data for specific purposes, such as receiving email notifications.

Contract

Processing is necessary to fulfil our agreement with you when you use our services.

Legitimate Interest

Processing is necessary for our legitimate interests, such as improving our platform and preventing fraud, unless overridden by your rights.

Legal Obligation

Processing is necessary to comply with laws, such as responding to valid legal requests.

7 Your Privacy Options

When submitting reports, you can choose from the following privacy levels:

Full Transparency

Your complete report including officer names and detailed narrative will be published. Personal contact details remain private.

Anonymised Data

Only anonymised statistical data from your report is published. Names and identifying details are not shared publicly.

Fully Anonymous

No personal information is collected. Your report contributes to statistics only. We cannot contact you about your submission.

8 Data Retention

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in this policy:

Account Data: Retained while your account is active and for a reasonable period thereafter
Report Data: Public reports are retained indefinitely for transparency purposes; anonymised data may be retained for statistical analysis
Communication Records: Retained for up to 3 years for customer service and legal purposes
Analytics Data: Aggregated analytics data may be retained indefinitely

You may request deletion of your account and associated data at any time, subject to legal retention requirements.

9 Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

Right to Access

Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you

Right to Rectification

Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data

Right to Erasure

Request deletion of your personal data in certain circumstances

Right to Restrict Processing

Request limitation of how we use your data

Right to Data Portability

Receive your data in a portable format

Right to Object

Object to processing based on legitimate interests

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using our contact form. We will respond within one month of receiving your request.

If you are not satisfied with how we handle your request, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

10 Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data:

Encryption: Data is encrypted in transit using TLS/SSL and at rest where appropriate
Access Controls: Strict access controls limit who can access personal data
Secure Infrastructure: Our servers are hosted in secure data centres with appropriate physical security
Regular Updates: We regularly update and patch our systems to address security vulnerabilities
Password Protection: User passwords are securely hashed and never stored in plain text

While we strive to protect your personal data, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security but are committed to maintaining industry-standard protections.

11 Cookies

We use cookies and similar technologies to enhance your experience:

Essential Cookies: Required for the platform to function properly (authentication, security)
Preference Cookies: Remember your settings and preferences
Analytics Cookies: Help us understand how visitors use our platform

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect platform functionality.

For more details, see our Cookie Policy.

12 Children's Privacy

OpenPolice is not intended for use by individuals under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16.

If you believe we have inadvertently collected data from a child under 16, please contact us immediately so we can delete it.

13 Officer & Public Interest Data

OpenPolice processes and publishes information about police officers in the public interest. This section explains how we handle this data in compliance with UK GDPR.

What Officer Data We Process

We process publicly available information about police officers from official sources:

Names: Only when officially published by authorities (police forces, IOPC, courts, tribunals)
Rank & Badge Numbers: Where officially disclosed
Force/Jurisdiction: The police force where the officer serves or served
Misconduct Hearings: Dates, allegations, and outcomes as officially published
Employment Status: Where officially confirmed (e.g., dismissal outcomes)

Legal Basis for Processing Officer Data

We process officer data under the following lawful bases:

Public Interest (Article 6(1)(e))

Processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest—specifically, police accountability and transparency.

Legitimate Interests (Article 6(1)(f))

We have a legitimate interest in promoting public accountability of law enforcement, which is not overridden by officers' privacy rights given the public nature of their role.

Identity Protection Rules

We maintain strict rules about officer identity:

No inference: We never guess or infer officer identities from partial information
Official sources only: Names are only published if they appear in official records
Separation of data: Hearing records with partial names are kept separate from officer profiles
Audit trail: We maintain records of the official sources for all published information

Officer Rights

Officers retain certain data protection rights, balanced against the public interest:

Right to Rectification: Officers may request correction of factually inaccurate information
Right to Erasure: Considered on a case-by-case basis, but generally does not apply to lawfully published public interest data
Right to Object: Officers may object to processing; we will review whether the public interest outweighs privacy concerns

To exercise these rights, officers or their legal representatives should contact us with evidence of their identity and the specific data in question.

Balancing Test: We balance the public interest in police accountability against individual privacy rights. Police officers hold positions of public trust with powers over citizens, which justifies greater transparency than for private individuals.

14 Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make changes, we will:

Update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page
Notify registered users of significant changes via email
Post a notice on the platform for material changes

We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your data.

15 Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

Website: openpolice.net

Contact Form

Location: United Kingdom

For complaints about our data handling, you may also contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

Status: Online