Guidance

Customer subject access request guidance

Updated 28 June 2021

Applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales

Please read these guidance notes fully before filling in the form. The notes contain important information about how the form should be completed.

Your right of subject access

You are entitled to be told if the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) holds any information about you and if so, to be provided with a copy of that information. This is called the ‘Right of Subject Access’. These rights are governed by Data Protection legislation.

Please note that information is subject to the DBS Data Retention Policy and can only be provided if we still hold any relating to you and exemptions do not apply.

Subject access requests to the DBS are free, however we reserve the right to charge a reasonable fee if a request is particularly excessive or repetitive.

For more information on the right of subject access, please go to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) website.

Making a subject access request to the DBS

If you make a valid application for subject access to the DBS, we will:

• tell you whether we hold any data on you
• give you a copy of this data

We will aim to fulfil your request within one month of receiving the following:

• a valid subject access application
• enough documentation to verify your identity

The DBS subject access application form will allow you to select an option to specify if you are making a request for:

• disclosure information only
• barring information only
• both disclosure and barring information

Information that we hold

Information we may hold is likely to be dependent on whether you:

• have made a disclosure application for a DBS check, or to be a registered person
• are named in a Barring referral made to the DBS

Disclosure information

If you have previously used the Disclosure service (e.g. your employer has asked you to have a DBS check, or you have applied for a basic DBS check), your information should be held on DBS’ records subject to the DBS data retention policy.

If you make a subject access request for Disclosure information you will be provided with copies of your DBS application form details, system notes and any other correspondence relating to the application held.

You will also receive a copy of any information disclosed on any DBS certificate(s) issued, or information used as part of the registered person decision-making process. This will not be in the format of a DBS certificate and will not be updated in any way from the data that was originally issued or used.

The information provided within a subject access result will show your records as they were when a DBS application was made. If your personal details (name, address etc) have changed since then, this will not be reflected in the results. Likewise any conviction information that may have changed since then e.g. due to appeal, or becoming spent, will also not be reflected in the result. Only a new DBS check will show up to date information. The results of a subject access request should not be used for employment purposes.

Barring information

If you have previously been named in a referral to the Barring service, your details should be held on DBS’ records subject to the DBS data retention policy.

If you are looking to obtain a copy of your information in relation to a referral to the Barring service, you will receive a copy of the information we hold about you.

Please note, if you are the subject of a referral and a minded to bar stage is reached, DBS will send you a copy of all information we have relied upon in considering your case, to enable you to consider making representations. This may include details that would be redacted as part of a subject access request.

Police records

DBS may hold some basic information relating to a police record relating to you, that we will look to provide. However, a subject access request to the DBS cannot be treated as, or used to obtain, a police check, disclosure certificate, or certificate of good conduct. Therefore, if you are seeking a copy of your full police record you must submit a subject access request to the police.

If you have previously been issued with a DBS certificate which showed details of any convictions, these details will be held by DBS, and will therefore be released under subject access.

In addition to a copy of your data, you will also receive guidance from the DBS, advising you what to do if you believe that any information is incorrect.

Enforced Subject Access

Before we are able to release any of your data, we must be sure of your identity.

You must send a minimum of two original pieces of official identity documentation with your application which between them provides enough information to prove your name, date of birth, current address and signature.

Examples of this are:

Document 1

• current, valid photo-card driving licence
• birth/adoption certificate
• passport

Please note: we are unable to accept paper counterpart driving licences issued after 1998 in line with changes introduced by the DVLA from 8 June 2015 as they no longer have any legal status. We are also unable to accept expired photo-card driving licences.

Document 2

• utility bill (for example: a gas, electricity or telephone bill )
• official document (for example: correspondence from bank or building society)

The above documents should be no more than 3 months old, and must be the original, as we do not accept photocopies.

We advise that you send in your identity documents by secure means. Your documents will be held securely by the DBS and sent back to you by secure delivery as soon as we have verified your identity.

Enforced subject access

Under the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), it is an offence for a person to require you to apply for information from the DBS for the purposes of:

• recruitment
• your continued employment
• for any contract for the provision of services

If you have been required to complete this form for any of the above reasons, the person asking you to do so may have committed an offence. If this is the case please contact the DBS Subject Access Department.

Contact details

Please send completed application forms to:

Subject Access Team
Disclosure and Barring Service
PO Box 165
Liverpool L69 3JD

If you have any questions please direct these to subjectaccess@dbs.gov.uk

Alternatively, you may call the DBS Helpline on 03000 200 190

You can also find further information about Data Protection within the DBS at www.gov.uk/dbs.

Subject access request concerns

If you are dissatisfied with the way your Subject Access request application has been processed and/or wish to challenge the results, you can raise a concern with the DBS Data Protection Officer using the contact details above.

Important
If you believe that information contained on a DBS certificate is incorrect, you should raise a dispute rather than a concern. Please see our website www.gov.uk/dbs for more information on disputes.

If you wish to challenge a barring decision, you should raise an appeal or request a review. Please see guidance on our website www.gov.uk/dbs for more information on how to raise an appeal or review.

Please note: We are only able to amend information that is owned by the DBS. If your concern relates to information that has been provided to us by a third party e.g. as part of a barring case, you will need to raise this separately with the owner of the information.

If you feel that we have not satisfactorily addressed your concerns, you can then escalate them to the Information Commissioner’s Office via their website www.ico.org.uk or in writing to:

Customer Contact
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
SK9 5AF

Please note: DBS retain subject access information for a maximum of 6 months in case of any concerns raised. After 6 months the copy of the subject access information is securely destroyed.