City of London Police is using a new system to secure sensitive information carried outside its network.

The force needs to keep track of where data is going as mobile devices become widely used, said Gary Brailsford-Hart, head of information management at City of London Police.

“The system lets us know who is accessing what information ­ which is crucial in preventing data breaches,” he said.

Officers who want to share evidence with another force must use an approved device, such as hardware-encrypted, biometric USB sticks, though encrypted CDs and DVDs are also used.

When the device is cross matched against an officer’s password login the download is approved, while unauthorised devices can be automatically blocked.

The system comes from vendor Devicelock.