Can we have our cake and eat it when it comes to the rapid adoption of tech to increase the range and volume of positive law enforcement outcomes, without being crippled by the enhanced compliance or potential breaches such developments bring?
This hybrid event brings together legal, operational, and policy experts from law enforcement, government, and private practice to examine the reality of day-to-day operations in the unique legal context of law enforcement data processing. With the clear direction set by the “From Local to National: A New Model for Policing” white paper published earlier this year, it is clear that both pro-active and reactive data compliance challenges are only going to increase in volume and complexity. The event is designed for senior officers, in-house lawyers, data protection officers & practitioners, as well as procurement, policy & governance professionals within competent authorities and the wider related sector.
Unlike the regimes of commercial processing (under the UK GDPR) and Intelligence Services processing (under Part 4 DPA 2018) where generally data controllers have a single regime that applies essentially uniformly, Law Enforcement bodies are, from the outset, at the unique disadvantage of having to manage compliance with multiple regimes simultaneously. A burden only intensified by the Data Use and Access Act’s amendments to allow for joint processing under Part 4 in certain circumstances. This legal complexity only further enhances the demand for collaborative sharing of practical tips, guidance and best practice amongst those working in this professional area.
The session will involve a two hour curated panel discussion moderated by Thomas Barrett, Data Protection and Privacy Partner at Weightmans. Thomas has an extensive background in delivering practical solutions to compliance challenges in law enforcement processing, from live facial recognition and AI governance, through to international data access and beyond.
He will be joined by a panel of internal and external experts covering the wide spectrum of law enforcement processing contexts to deliver a helpful and informative session focused on practical takeaways and actionable guidance over theory.
Our panel of speakers' include Francesca Whitelaw, KC, and Helen Edwards, Head of Information Management and Data Protection Officer at British Transport Police.
Francesca Whitelaw KC, is a leading specialist in police, government, public and information law, investigations and human rights. She has particular experience of high-profile, sensitive litigation, investigations and inquiries, data, biometrics and national security. Before taking silk, she was appointed to the Attorney General's A Panel. In 2025 she was the interim Biometrics Commissioner. Francesca acted with Jason Beer KC in the Court of Appeal in Bridges, the leading decision regarding the use by law enforcement of facial recognition technology.
Helen Edwards, is Head of Information Management and Data Protection Officer at British Transport Police, a role she has held for over 13 years, leading data protection and information governance across the force. Previously Head of Data Management at Gwent Police, her work now focuses increasingly on the governance of artificial intelligence, where she has led the development of policy and frameworks to ensure its ethical and lawful use.
Topics likely to be covered include:
- Exploring how compliance can be embedded into decision-making without undermining law enforcement outcomes
- The best approach to effectively use and maximally exploit data in the fight against crime whilst managing risk and minimising exposure especially in envelope pushing contexts
- Horizon scanning and preparing for upcoming issues in emerging technologies, complex information-sharing arrangements, or other high-risk processing.
- Real world actions to deliver on prevention being better than cure when it comes to data compliance both in terms of substance and as regards standing up proper processes etc
- Best practice and effective triage/mitigation when faced with a breach, enforcement or a claim
- Following the Panel discussion and Q&A, those attending in person will be invited to stay on for Networking and refreshments.
This event will be run as a hybrid event with the session being run as a live webinar and fully recorded. Audio and visual data as well as the contents of the associated chatroom and related metadata will therefore be processed for the purposes of delivering the session and providing access to the content created for persons who did not attend (as well as for wider educational, archival and promotional reasons). If you do not consent to the processing of your data in this regard you should not attend the session either in person or virtually.
Date: Wednesday 1 July 2026
Time: 12pm - 2pm
Location: 105 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 5JG or Zoom
A version of this article was first published on 1 Jul 2026
