The short answer. A correction request asks the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL's Files to make the data about you accurate — not to remove it. The Statute gives every person the right to request "correction and/or deletion", the data rules require every record to be "accurate, relevant, not excessive in relation to their purpose and up to date", and a corrected record changes how borders treat you even where a notice survives. It is the right tool when the notice is lawful but the record is wrong.
Deletion is the remedy everyone asks for. Correction is the one many need first.
What the rule gives you
Article 29 of the Statute: any person may submit “a request for access to, or correction and/or deletion of, data”. The Commission’s 2024 report explains how the two fit: non-compliant data are “in most cases deleted, though in some cases they may be corrected.” Same nine-month target, same portal, same ten-page summary. What differs is the ask.
When the record is wrong but the notice is not
Four situations recur. A charge has been reduced, and the Red Notice still cites the original. A sentence has been served, and the notice still seeks arrest. Identity details are wrong — a transliterated name, a date of birth, a photograph that is not you. And the big one: a country has refused extradition, or a court has made findings, and the notice circulates as if nothing happened. INTERPOL’s practice is to report refusals “in an addendum” to other countries; a correction request makes sure the addendum exists and says what the court said.
A border officer does not read your file. He reads the notice — so the notice must tell the truth.
Why it can matter more than deletion
Because deletion can fail and correction still succeed. The Commission may find a notice compliant — a valid warrant, a serious charge, no political character — and refuse deletion, yet still order the record updated with the refusal, the acquittal or the correct particulars. At the border, the difference between “wanted for fraud” and “wanted for fraud; extradition refused, request found invalid” can be the difference between a cell and a stamp. Correction also sets up the next step: a corrected record often reveals that the notice’s purpose has gone — the ground for deletion under Article 12.
How to ask for it
State precisely what is wrong, what it should say, and attach the document that proves it — the court order, the identity document, the refusal decision — translated into a working language. Ask for correction and deletion in the alternative where both are arguable, so that the Commission can grant the lesser if it refuses the greater. After the decision, an access request confirms what the record now says; Does INTERPOL tell you when a Red Notice is deleted? explains why that check matters.
Related
- What happens to a Red Notice after an acquittal or a dropped charge?
- Does a refused extradition end a Red Notice?
- How do I find out if I have a Red Notice?
- Statute of the CCF, Articles 28, 29 and 40 — interpol.int
- INTERPOL's Rules on the Processing of Data, Articles 12, 46 and 48 — interpol.int
- INTERPOL — Repository of Practice on Articles 2 and 3, the addendum practice on refusals — interpol.int
- CCF Annual Activity Report 2024, pages 8–9 — interpol.int
- CCF Portal User Guide for Applicants, section 10.2 — interpol.int
Looking forward to any questions or comments that you may have! My goal is to help you, and your questions and comments are answered within one working day. And if you are somewhere in this story yourself: the assessment is free.
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