Police forces admit sharing your information with the RSPCA
Shooters are encouraged to contact their local police force after several admit sharing information with the RSPCA.
Of the 39 forces that the Countryside Alliance (CA) sent Freedom of Information requests to, 10 have responded saying that they have a formal Information Sharing Agreement (ISA) with the RSPCA.
Sir Barney White-Spunner, the executive chairman of the CA, has written to the Information Commissioner to question the legal authority of the agreements and to express the CA’s deep concern that the RSPCA is not audited in how it uses the information.
There is also concern that the charity has access to firearms licensing information as well as other information that may throw up serious data protection concerns.
The CA told Shooting Times that it has received a reply saying that the Information Commissioner is “looking into it”.
BASC, meanwhile, has approached the individual police forces to ask for formal assurances that they do not share confidential firearms licensing information with any private or charitable organisations.
It is also asking shooters to contact their chief constables to raise their concerns.
BASC’s director of firearms, Bill Harriman, said: “BASC is very concerned that the highly sensitive and confidential details of firearms and shotgun certificate holders may have been made available to a non-statutory agency.
This ill-considered action could put the security of fi rearms and shotgun holders at risk.
Certificate holders have always relied on their details being treated confidentially by the police.
Diluting the protection that such anonymity brings is highly irresponsible and breaches the trust placed in the police by lawful gun owners.”
To see whether your local force has an ISA with the RSPCA, and for details on how to email your chief constable, visit bit.ly/1dcDtqr
