The retention of images from individuals who have been acquitted has been declared unlawful. When uploading images to the PND, police must consider if this is ‘useful intelligence’ to the force: e.g. if an older image of the individual already exists on the database, that should also be removed before the up-to-date one is added.
If a custody image has been taken and the individual is found to be innocent, they can apply to have their image removed from the database. The Review of the Use and Retention of Custody Images document outlines that ‘there should be a presumption in favour of deletion.’ This presumption should be ‘even stronger’ if the image was taken of an individual when under the age of 18, and those convicted under the age of 18 also have the right to request deletion. Those who have been convicted of a recordable offence (i.e. the police are permitted to keep a record of the offence but generally speaking, imprisonable) are able to apply for deletion.
The Custody Images Review also notes that ‘[r]etention of the convicted persons’ images is reviewed at specified intervals, which depend on the seriousness of the offence.’ There is no explicit timeframe given for respective offences.