Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Home Department, with reference to page 53 of the 2020-21 annual Victims Commissioner Report published on 21 July 2021, how she plans to create confidence and trust in the Criminal Justice System for rape victims who are considering reporting an offence.

In the recently published end-to-end rape review the Government set out its position that victims of rape should feel confident that only data that is relevant to their investigation will be taken from their digital devices.

We will enable this by providing strong protections for victims’ most sensitive personal information in law, enabled by the appropriate technology.

The information extraction clauses under Chapter 3 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will ensure that only information that is necessary and proportionate for an investigation is asked for from a victim.

The Code of Practice that will accompany the PCSC Bill provides detailed guidance on when and how these powers should be used. The code makes clear that device users have the right to refuse, and it also contains specific guidance on the use of the powers with victims who may be vulnerable due to the trauma they may have experienced and who may need more support.

However, legislation is only part of the solution. Whilst there are some promising new technologies, existing data extraction technology does not always provide the ability to limit appropriately what is being taken from a digital device.

To directly tackle this challenge, we will be bringing the Criminal Justice System and industry together through a joint Ministerial led technology summit to develop rapid, innovative, technological solutions. With digital evidence increasing in volume and prevalence, it is vital that we harness technology to find solutions to challenges in capacity and in our capability to effectively extract, analyse and review only relevant data from digital devices in a way which fast and not intrusive for the victim,

Using the Summit to identify innovative solutions, we will work with the policing sector to trial technologies through via Operation Soteria to identify where innovations can be scaled up at pace to make a difference for victims. The Summit will also build valuable, sustainable partnerships to ensure we continue to innovate, at pace, as threats and challenges evolve.