ICO: The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has ruled that the Disclosure and Barring Service breached the Data Protection Act after failing to stop the collection of information about low level convictions that was no longer required for employment checks.
The error occurred after the service failed to update its application form and continued to include the question ‘Have you ever been convicted of a criminal offence or received a caution, reprimand or warning?’. The form did not make clear that applicants did not need to include minor and historic offences due to a change to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, which came into force on 29 May 2013.