Personal data of police officers - SearchInform

Personal data of police officers

 
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The accumulation, storage and issuance of personal information of citizens is regulated by Federal Law No. 152 "On Personal Data", adopted on July 27, 2006. Article 6 of the said law establishes that it is possible to issue closed data about a person without agreement with the listing of exceptions. Provide personal data in response to a request from internal affairs officers in accordance with the Federal Law "On Police", adopted on 07.02.2011.

They issue the stored data at the request of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the cases established by the listed laws. The powers of the department employees are listed in clause 4, part 1 of Article 13 of the Federal Law of 2011, and the justified reasons for issuing classified information are listed in the Federal Law "On Personal Data". Police officers have the right to request this information only for the disclosure of criminal and administrative offenses, as well as for establishing the fact of a criminal or administrative offense at the request of individuals, the consideration of which is within their competence.

If this rule is not followed, the institution that received the request refuses to provide information, referring to Article 7 of the Federal Law "On Personal Data".

Police Rights to Request Personal Information

The rights of police representatives are regulated by Art. 13 of the departmental law, which establishes that for the performance of functional duties, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have the right to request and receive free of charge personal data from institutions and enterprises (state and city), associations of citizens, officials of organizations (regardless of the form of ownership), as well as from individuals in case:

  • investigations of criminal or administrative proceedings;
  • verification of the statements of citizens on the commission of illegal acts submitted to the police.

This information is provided to the police in the form of certificates and copies of available documentation. The exception is information transmitted by medical institutions about individuals:

  • seeking help for violent injuries or road traffic accidents;
  • having restrictions (contraindications) of a medical nature to driving vehicles;
  • suffering from drug addiction;
  • using drugs or psychotropic drugs without a doctor's recommendation;
  • using new psychoactive drugs that pose a potential threat to life and health;
  • who, by order or sentence of a court, are obliged to undergo a course of treatment (diagnostics, preventive measures) for drug or alcohol addiction or social rehabilitation to get rid of addictive behavior.

Article 13 of the Federal Law "On the Police" establishes the obligation to provide data by state, city and private institutions, as well as citizens at the request of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Assessing the legality of a police request for personal information

The law sets a number of requirements for a request submitted by employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The information requested should be related to:

  • a criminal or administrative offense for which investigative actions are already being carried out;
  • verification of the statement of an individual about a committed illegal act (criminal or administrative);
  • checking the accuracy of information about the incident, the proceedings in which are included in the official powers of the police officer.

It is not always possible, when reading the request, to ascertain the connection of the requested information with a criminal or administrative investigation. The law does not specify what kind of (direct or indirect) connection should be present, which makes it possible to consider the request of law enforcement officers to issue personal information formally legitimate.
The answer to this request is the responsibility of the head of the institution, since it is associated with the prompt response of the police to the offense. The requested information will allow you to confirm or deny the fact of illegal actions.

It is illegal to send a request for the release of information necessary for the disclosure of future criminal (administrative) proceedings. The law restricts an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, allowing him to collect information relating exclusively to cases that are at the stage of pre-trial investigation. The specified criterion is key in determining the legitimacy of the requested data.

Another requirement for filling out a request from the police for personal data is the requirement of motivation. This also presents difficulties in practice. For example, a police officer points out that there are 10 cases in his proceedings on the fact of fraud when applying for express loans through Internet banks: the provision of fake or invalid documents. However, the request does not indicate how exactly the requested information will help in the investigation of a criminal offense. The fact of the loss of material evidence remains unclear. Considering that 10 cases are being investigated at once, it is difficult to establish a connection between the investigation and the requested personal data.

In accordance with clause 4 of Article 4 of the Federal Law "On the Police" , law enforcement officers have the right to demand from banks and credit companies statements of accounts on operations carried out by citizens or enterprises within the framework of entrepreneurship in order to detect and stop offenses. The list of activities included in the concept of operational-search activity is disclosed in Article 6 of the said law. This is a clear list that only the legislator (at the federal level) is allowed to change and amend.

However, most of the requests of law enforcement officers are distinguished by a scanty introduction (preamble), listing references to the norms of federal laws that give employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs the right to request personal information as part of a criminal or administrative investigation and operational-search activities. However, only a reasoned request is considered legitimate, indicating the need to provide information to solve the tasks assigned to police officers.

Motivation is the most problematic issue when analyzing the legality of the demands of law enforcement officers, since the legislator does not interpret the term “motivated request”. Practice shows that a document should be considered as such if there is information about the grounds for its direction (conducting operational or investigative measures), the category of the case in which the investigation is being conducted (criminal or administrative), or references to the verification of the statement of an individual about a committed offense, the decision of which relates to to the competence of police officers.

Such requirements are also put forward by the Criminal Procedure Code (Criminal Procedure Code) of Russia in Articles 144 and 145. If personal information is requested as part of an investigation of an offense (identifying signs of a crime) in the action of an official who prepares a response, this is reflected in the request.

Particular attention is required by clause 4 of part 1 of article 13 of the Federal Law "On the Police" , which regulates the basis for law enforcement officers to send a request for the issuance of personal data to the heads of state, city institutions, associations of citizens, individuals and enterprises, regardless of the form of ownership. This is the conduct of investigative, search or operational measures within the framework of criminal or administrative proceedings, as well as verification of the reliability of the fact of an offense at the request of citizens.

That is, the legislator grants a police officer the right to request copies and originals of documents relating to an investigated criminal or administrative case from private and public companies. But important aspects of such a request are validity and legitimacy. Therefore, in addition to the number of the investigated production or the materials being checked, in connection with which information is requested, the request contains factual arguments confirming the connection of the requested information with the specified investigative actions or verification.

The law does not establish restrictions on the amount of personal information that can be issued at the request of law enforcement officers. In accordance with the law, legal and reasonable demands of a police officer are obligatory to be satisfied within the time period specified in the request, but not more than 30 days from the date of its receipt. For refusal to comply with the legal requirements of a police officer, administrative responsibility is provided: a verbal warning or a fine of 3-5 thousand rubles.

When responding to a request from law enforcement officers, one must remember that only legal and justified claims are subject to satisfaction. Confidential information may only be requested as part of an investigation or audit.

11.12.2020

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