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Number of electronic devices lost or stolen

This Freedom of Information request asks for the number of electronic devices lost or stolen in the last 5 years.

Request for information - Ref No: FOI221060

Request

Thank you for your email of 17 January 2022, requesting information from Ordnance Survey in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000, as set out in the extract below:

“Please provide me with the total number of electronic devices reported lost or stolen within your organisation over the last five calendar years (2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017)

Example: 2020

  • 15 Laptops reported stolen, 34 lost
  • 13 Mobile phones reported stolen 130 lost
  • 40 Tablet computers reported stolen, 200 lost

Please also provide an estimated cost per device.”

Our response

I confirm that Ordnance Survey does hold information in relation to the total number of devices lost or stolen, as set out in the table below:-

Type of Device FY 16-17 FY 17-18 FY 18-19 FY 19-20 End of 2021
Laptop 1 (ThinkPad) 2 (1 Dell, 1 ThinkPad) 2 (ThinkPad) 1 (ThinkPad) 2 (ThinkPad)
Mobile Phone

8 (3 iPhone 5c / 5 iPhone 6)

3 (1 iPhone 5c / 2 iPhone 6) 3 (1 iPhone 8 / 2 iPhone) 3 (1 Nokia / 2 iPhone 8) 4 (1 iPhone SE2020 / 1 iPhone 8 / 2 iPhone 12)
Tablet/Computer 4 1 0 0 1
Total lost/stolen 13 6 5 4 7

We are unable to provide a separate figure for i) the number of devices stolen and ii) the number of devices lost. This is because when the devices are reported the items are not categorised in this way but are logged as ‘lost or stolen’.

The list below provides the estimated cost of each type of device lost or stolen:

Type of Device Estimated Cost
ThinkPad Laptop £1800
Dell Tablet/Laptop £2000
iPhone 6 £242
iPhone 8 £333
Nokia Mobile £39
iPhone SE 2020 £324
iPhone 12 £665
iPhone 5C £469

Internal review

Your enquiry has been processed according to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000. If you are unhappy with our response, you may request an internal review with our Internal Review Officer by contacting them, within two months of receipt of our final response to your Freedom of Information (FOI) request, as follows:

Internal Review Officer
Customer Service Centre
Ordnance Survey
Adanac Drive
Southampton
SO16 0AS

Contact us via our FoI form

Please include the reference number above. You may request an internal review where you believe Ordnance Survey has:

  • Failed to respond to your request within the time limits (normally 20 working days)
  • Failed to tell you whether or not we hold the information
  • Failed to provide the information you have requested
  • Failed to explain the reasons for refusing a request
  • Failed to correctly apply an exemption or exception

The Internal Review Officer will not have been involved in the original decision. They will conduct an independent internal review and will inform you of the outcome of the review normally within 20 working days, but exceptionally within 40 working days, in line with the Information Commissioner’s guidance.

The Internal Review Officer will either: uphold the original decision, provide an additional explanation of the exemption/s applied or release further information, if it is considered appropriate to do so.

Appeal to Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
If, following the outcome of the internal review you remain unhappy with our response, you may raise an appeal, within three months of receiving our response, with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Further information can be found on the ICO website (ico.org.uk) under ‘Report a concern’ or you may wish to call the ICO helpline on 0303 123 1113.