13. Maintenance of records
The RIPA Co-ordinating Officer is responsible for keeping in a dedicated place;
- a record of all authorisations sought
- a record of authorisations granted and refused
- applications for the granting, renewing and cancellation of authorisations
- a record of all JP approvals and renewals
The records will be confidential and will be retained for a period of 5 years (for both CHIS and directed surveillance) from the ending of the authorisation. It is intended that the Central Record will be spreadsheet format and represent the requirements of the Code of Practice for Covert Surveillance and Property Interference (Chapter 8) and the Code of Practice for CHIS (Chapter 7)
Authorising officers will ensure compliance with the appropriate data protection requirements and any relevant codes of practice produced by individual authorities in the handling and storage of material.
Where material is obtained by surveillance which is wholly unrelated to a criminal or other investigation or the person subject of the surveillance and no reason to believe it will be relevant to future civil or criminal proceedings it should be destroyed immediately. The decision to retain or destroy material will be taken by the relevant authorising officer.