http://www.guardian.co.uk/government-co ... quests-tflMetropolitan police requests TfL's data 22,000 times over four yearsNumber of requests to Transport for London for passengers' Oyster card data and other personal information up 15% since 2008
* Sade Laja
* Guardian Professional, Thursday 9 February 2012 13.32 GMT
* Article history
The Metropolitan police has requested Oyster card data relating to citizens and other personal information from Transport for London (TfL) more than 22,000 times since 2008, according to figures published by the capital's transport authority.
The force requested personal data TfL holds relating to citizens 5,295 times in 2008; 5,359 in 2009; 5,046 in 2010; and 6,258 in 2011, according to a response to a freedom of information request from Guardian Government Computing. The figures also show that the force has made 264 requests for such information this year so far.
TfL said that it could not provide a breakdown of the number of requests made by the Metropolitan police just for passengers' Oyster card data alone, but a spokesman for London's police force told Guardian Government Computing that the majority of requests were likely to be related to Oyster information. Other than Oyster data, personal information requested would include CCTV images and details of TfL staff, he said.
The transport authority said that it receives "many requests" for information pertaining to different crime types. Examples over the last four years include requests for Oyster data to assist with the police's investigations into offences such as theft, robbery, missing persons and sexual offences.
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