If you have a spent conviction and are suffering reputational harm or distress as a result of material about that conviction being published online and/or which features in online searches against your name, legal remedies may be available.

The publication of an item, article or link which refers to a spent conviction and identifies the person concerned could be legally actionable as a misuse of private information and/or a breach of data protection rights.

Carter-Ruck, a law firm specialising in this area, has agreed to work with Unlock and they are willing to advise people with spent convictions on a “no win no fee” basis, recovering costs from your opponent where a legal claim is made, with a view to having links to offending articles removed from online searches against your name and/or the articles themselves taken down and in appropriate cases to claim damages and costs.

If you would like Carter-Ruck to consider your case, please complete this questionnaire and send it to us electronically. Alternatively, you can print and complete it manually, sending it by post to the address on the questionnaire.

Your details will be treated in the strictest confidence and will not be shared beyond Unlock or Carter-Ruck without your permission.

We will pass all completed questionnaires to Carter-Ruck, who will contact you directly to advise, answer your questions and, where appropriate, to take your claim forward.

As this work forms part of Unlock’s policy work on what we refer to as the ‘Google-effect’, Carter-Ruck will keep us regularly up-to-date with progress on your claim.