For any enquiries relating to Subject Access please contact ACRO Customer Services on Telephone: 0845 60 13 999 (International callers: 0044 1962 871111), via email: customer.services@acro.pnn.police.uk or write to us at the following address enclosing a stamped address envelope.

ACRO (SAO)
PO Box 623
Fareham
PO14 9HR

Please see information below outlining the procedures involved for Subject Access requests.

Data Protection Act 1998 Subject Access to the Police National Computer

The Data Protection Act 1998 gives individuals who are the subject of personal data (“data subjects”) a general right of access to personal data which relates to them. This is known as Subject Access. The Act provides certain exemptions to this right of access which means that in certain circumstances some personal data may not be disclosed. For example, personal data will not be provided if it is thought that releasing it would be likely to prejudice policing purposes or if it contains information that identifies other individuals.

The ACPO Criminal Records Office (ACRO) provides Subject Access on behalf of most police forces in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Jersey and Isle of Man to persons wishing access to their personal data (where appropriate) held on the Police National Computer (PNC).

All applications for Subject Access from the PNC must be through your local police force Data Protection Officer – there is a link provided below to the Data Protection pages of police forces for which ACRO provides a Subject Access service – please click on your home force or, if you live abroad, the police force area in which you most recently resided. ACRO will reply directly to you with the result of the PNC search.

This may take up to 40 days from the date your application is received by the relevant Police Force.

Please do not make your Subject Access request direct to ACRO as we will not be able to process it and this will cause a delay to you receiving a response.

If your local police force is not listed, this is because they make their own arrangements for dealing with Subject Access requests and you will need to contact them direct for further information.

Please note that even if you have had a conviction “stepped down” from the Police National Computer, this conviction will still be included in the Subject Access response you receive. Further information about “step down” is available from this link. www.acpo.police.uk/asp/policies/Data/Retention%20of%20Records06.pdf

Persons working with children or vulnerable adults or employment vetting

For those persons who are going to work as a paid employee or as a volunteer for an organisation which will bring them into contact with children or vulnerable adults, they may be asked to apply for a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check. Further information about this process can be found at www.crb.gov.uk.

ACRO does not provide Police National Computer (PNC) disclosures for employment purposes. Those persons who require a Criminal Convictions Certificate (Basic) of unspent convictions (where applicable) should contact Disclosure Scotland on 0870 609 6006 or at www.disclosurescotland.co.uk. You do not need to live in or have lived in Scotland to use Disclosure Scotland’s service.

Police Forces for which ACRO provides a Subject Access Service