Found property

[Brancaster]

My local police force have a policy in respect of found property, such as mobile phones and other items which may hold personal details, which precludes them from returning the said items to the finder in the event that the owner does not reclaim the property. Now this may be their policy but does it override what I believe are my common law rights to reclaim the property as the finder, and, as I believe, the rightful claimant? Anyone any ideas please?

[bednobs]

what makes you think you have "common law rights" (what are they anyway?) to keep something that's not yours?

[hc4361]

It shouldn't arise because any item that contains personal details can be traced to the owner.

[micmak]

I found a mobile phone and took it to the local police. The desk sergeant went through the contacts and chose mum. He called the number and explained why he was ringing. An hour later a grateful son picked up the phone from the police station. Sorted.

[Brancaster]

Bednobs - if the property is not claimed who does it belong to then ?? Why the police in default of me who took the trouble to take it to them in the hope of finding the loser ? Moral high ground too high for you !

[bednobs]

not really, i just wonder what "common law rights" are? what is common law? Why not just cut out the middleman and not give it to the police in the first place? just find it and keep it?

[Brancaster]

Because that would be theft by finding - Theft Act 1968 - By handing it in it gives the loser the opportunity to reclaim it - having given the loser the chance to claim it within 28 days and he fails to do so I, as the finder, have a legitimate claim in law to the property

[saxy_jag]

I think there are data protection laws surrounding personal information on found items. Our council customer service department once had a wallet left on their counter, in which was a council library card. Could we, they asked, trace the owner through their library details and either contact the owner on their behalf or could we let them have the details so that they could return it to the owner. Checking with out legal department, we found we could do neither. All we could do was to hand it in to the police who would need a warrant in order to obtain the relevant information from us

[saxy_jag]

Sorry, hit the submit button by mistake.

The wallet not being important enough to justify a warrant, the police can only wait until the owner reports it lost and can identify it as his/hers if the police happen to have 'found' it. If it's not claimed within a certain amount of time then the finder has the right to take ownership.

I would imagine, in the case of a mobile phone, they would have to remove the SIM and clear the phone's memory first if they were to do this.

As to whether or not it's a common law right to claim ownership, I wouldn't know, but I'd be interested to find out.

[New Judge]

This raises a number of issues.

Most fundamentally I do not believe the police have a responsibility to protect data stored on (say) a mobile phone. The Data Protection Act (DPA) applies only to “data controllers”. These are people or bodies who collect and retain data for purposes in connection with their business and who have registered their activities with the Office of the Data Commisioner.

Individuals who have data in their possession for personal use (such as a collection of phone numbers on their mobile phone) do not suddenly become data controllers for the purposes of the DPA and are not subject to its restrictions and requirements.

The scenario which saxy_jag describes does involve a “data controller” (the council) and they are subject to DPA restrictions. (Having said that, I cannot imagine the data commissioner pursuing a prosecution if the council divulged the ticketholder’s details for the purposes of tracing the wallet’s owner. Unfortunately too many people seek to hide behind Data Protection laws to prevent common sense being used).

The responsibility for maintaining the security of personal information stored on portable devices rests with the owner of the device. But losing it or divulging it to others is not a criminal offence (provided you are not a “data controller”). If someone gives you their phone number and address it is not against the law for you to pass it to somebody else, with or without permission. It seems to me that the police have gone a bit beyond their powers.

[Barquentine]

I once found a Rolex watch on a bus. I took it to the police and handed it in. Naievely I didn't ask for a receipt. Those were the days when I still thought the police might be trustworthy (Ho ho ho!). Went back a month later to ask if it had been claimed. Policeman on the desk could find no record of it in his lost property register! Since then I have kept everything I find!