Crimint is a database

Database

A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...

 run by the Metropolitan Police Service

Metropolitan Police Service

The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police...

 of Greater London

Greater London

Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...

 which stores information on criminals, suspected criminals and protesters. It was created in 1994 and supplied by Memex Technology Limited

Memex Technology Limited

Memex Technology Limited is a Scottish software company delivering mission-critical information systems and services for the Law Enforcement and Security markets. It is headquartered in Peel Park in East Kilbride, Scotland. In July 2010 it was acquired by SAS Institute Inc...

. It supports the recording and searching of items of intelligence by both police officers and back office staff. As of 2005 it contained seven million information reports and 250,000 intelligence records. The database makes it much easier for police officers to find information on people, as one officer who used the system stated in 1996:

"With Crimint we are in a new world. I was recently asked if I knew something about a certain car. In the old days I would have had to hunt through my cards. I would probably have said, 'Yes, I do, but . . . '. With Crimint I was able to answer the question in about fifteen seconds. And with Crimint things just don't go missing."

People are able to request their information from the database under data protection laws. Requests have shown that the database holds large amounts of information on protesters who have not committed any crimes. Information is stored for at least seven years. Holding information on people who have never committed any offence may be against people's human rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

. A police officer, Amerdeep Johal, allegedly used the database to contact sex offender

Sex offender

A sex offender is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and by legal jurisdiction. Most jurisdictions compile their laws into sections such as traffic, assault, sexual, etc. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crimes of a...

s and threatened to disclose information about them from the database unless they paid him thousands of pounds.