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Request
Q1. How many CSAM cases has your force encountered in the past year? (Estimates welcome.)
Q2. What percentage of your total CSAM cases do you estimate involve AI-generated content?
Q3. How long on average is spent on Victim ID in a CSAM case in 2024 compared to 2019?
Q4. How many successful prosecutions were made in 2024 involving AI-generated CSAM?
Q5. How effective are current detection methods for AI-generated CSAM compared to traditional CSAM? (Estimates or general insights are fine.)
Q6. What is the total amount spent in 2024 on AI detection tools with specific features for CSAM, and on recruiting staff for roles where AI plays a key part?
Q7. Is your force collaborating with external organisations to address AI-generated CSAM?
Q8. Have officers received additional training on AI-generated CSAM?
Extent of Searches to Locate Information
Following receipt of your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police to locate relevant information.
Decision
I am not obliged to provide you with a response to your request pursuant to Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act). Please note that when one part of your request falls under Section 12, we are not obliged to review the rest of the questions and the whole request is therefore exempt.
Section 12(1) applies to your request as the cost of complying with your request is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond i.e. the cost of identifying and retrieving any relevant information exceeds the ‘appropriate level’ as stated in the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.
Due to the nature of our recording systems the information requested, if held, is not in an easily retrievable format. Our information retrieval process generally relies on a computer ran report which captures any information recorded upon the surface of a record or within specified fields. Where relevant information is held deeper in the record, or outside of a specified field, a manual assessment is required to retrieve that information.
In order to retrieve the requested information to answer Questions 1 and 4, it would be necessary to manually review all types of report submitted to the Digital Forensics Unit to determine the number which relate to CSAM followed by a further manual review to determine the number of successful prosecutions related to AI generated CSAM, which would involve reading hundreds of records and would exceed the time limit allowed under the Act.
Pursuant to Section 17(5) of the Freedom of Information Act this letter acts as a Refusal Notice.
Pursuant to Section 16 of the Act I am required to offer you advice and assistance with regarding to refining your request to within the ‘appropriate limit’ (time/cost limit). I may be able to provide you with some information in response to Questions 2, 3, 6, 7 and 8 if you wish to revise and resubmit your request, omitting Questions 1 and 4. Question 5 is invalid under S8 of the Act as it is asking for an opinion or judgement and is not based on recorded information held by the Force. If you wish to discuss this please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data. It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.