Hi All,
I can see these forums don't get as many visitors as I'd like, but I can't think of another resource to use for this question.
I am under a SHPO and due to my offending, the police (PPU) are allowed to install monitoring software on my laptop / mobile. I don't have an issue with this (like it would matter if I did) and I understand why they would want this installing.
The software has only recently been installed on my mobile and I've run into an issue. Whenever I try to open the "First Direct" banking app, it detects eSafe as spyware and refuses to run. This means that I cannot complete any form of banking - the app is used to log into the First Direct website, used to authorise any online purchases, etc.

I went back to PPU and spoke with my officer, who effectively told me "tough" (paraphrasing). I escalated this to a Sergeant who spent longer telling me "tough" - I explained this was having an impact on my day-to-day life, I cannot make any online purchases. I managed to get trapped in an "app only" carpark, as I had no way to authroise the purchase.
I asked PPU for options - none forthcoming. I then said I cannot be the only person who has this software and needs to bank, please can they tell me the name of some banks where this isn't an issue.
"No - we cannot recommend banks".
I told them I wasn't looking for recommendations, I was after an "anecdote" - John Doe banks with Barclays (for example) and doesn't have any issues......no, cannot do that.

I know court is an option, but I don't think I can afford to do this - my criminal trial that led me to this situation cost me a lot and I'm still job seeking at the moment. I know I could represent myself in court, but I'm not sure how successful I'm likely to be - PPU officer said that he didn't consider me not being able to do any online purchases was detremental to my life, I guess I'd need to convice a judge otherwise?

Is there anybody else here who has the eSafe software on a mobile and does use a banking app without issue? Would you be willing to share which bank you are with?
I don't want to go throught the hassle of changing banks, but if that is my only option, I don't want to change to one that also has an issue!

When I had it installed on my mobile phone I had so many issues with the application however online banking did work fine for me and I was using First Direct at the time. However this was a couple of years ago and things might have changed.

I successfully argued with my Offender Manager to have esafe removed from my phone. My issue was that it was bring prompts up continually asking me if I would like esafe to record my mobile phone screen. My argument was that this put me at risk as it would only take someone who saw the prompt on my screen to google it and realise what the software was.

Going to court and asking for an amendment of your SHPO is possible if you have had your SHPO for 5 years or more. At less than 5 years you will need the polices permission to vary your SHPO. You would need to ask for the monitoring software to be removed. It costs nothing to represent yourself in court however the police could ask you to pay their costs if you lose(they tried this on with me when I applied for a SHPO discharge)

There is also the police complaints procedure where you can log a formal complaint. At the very least the police should be raising this with esafe as an issue for them to fix in a future version.

In my opinion not being able to do any form of banking online in a digital world is detrimental to your life and your PPU is wrong. 

As an aside have you tried talking to First Direct. When I was released from prison I didn't have a smart phone and First Direct gave me a calculator type thing to log onto Online Banking on a PC. If you tell them you don't have a smart phone and ask them how you can log onto PC version of online banking they may be able to do something to help you out. 

This may well be a First Direct thing, as my bank's app has no problems with the monitoring software. It has to be worth following the advice above and telling them you don't have a smartphone.

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If you are to punish a man retributively you must injure him. If you are to reform him you must improve him. And men are not improved by injuries. (George Bernard Shaw)

Hi,

Thank you for your reply.
My SHPO is only a month old. My barrister and I successfully managed to argue against a lot of the proposed clauses in it (to give you a rough idea, the initial proposed SHPO was nearly 4 pages long and would have made me completely unemployable for its duration). My barrister argued the vast majority of them away.
The Judge at the time described the proposed SHPO as "Mostly over restrictive, in some cases wholley overrestrictive and in two cases draconian.
I had no idea I'd need the police's permission to ask for this final SHPO to be varried - I mean, there is absolutely no advantage to them agreeing to that.

I did speak with First Direct and yes, they do offer a "dongle". 6-8 week wait, however, that only fixes the logging onto my account issue.
It cannot be used to approve online purchases nor can those be approved via the website - that can only be done via the mobile app.
So although the dongle would allow me to actually access my money, I'd still be unable to:
Make any online purchases - even an Amzon purchase now and again asks me to confirm the payment
Make any parking/toll payments where it is "app only" - the anecdote I listed in my original post, I had to wait 45 minutes until my wife was free, so she could login on her phone and pay for my parking!

It looks like I'm going to have to try the switch bank option. Of course it's a shot in the dark - always the chance I'l hit another bank that has the same issue. I do see that Co-Operative currently have a £200 switch bonus and as a Coventry Build Society customer, that becomes £300 - which would be useful for someone currently unemployed.

Thanks again. 

Thank you for taking the time to reply.
I think I'm gonna have to try switching banks. I can get £300 by switching to Co-Operative, which of course would be handy for someone currently unemployed, so I'll give it a try with fingers crossed!

Well, I'm with Lloyds and their app plays nicely with eSafe, so that could be Plan B if you need it.

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If you are to punish a man retributively you must injure him. If you are to reform him you must improve him. And men are not improved by injuries. (George Bernard Shaw)

It is strange how different police force interpret these things. As I said when I got released from prison I didn't have a mobile phone but I did have a tablet. They installed esafe on that tablet but my PPU removed it as it stopped some streaming services from working. She wasn't happy with esafe as their response was to get Now TV to change their software to work with esafe.

If you feel up to I would look at the police complaint route as they shouldn't have software which stops essential apps from working. I can understand why it would be quicker to change bank accounts but that comes with all the hassle of having to deregister the old one and register the new one with the police.

A SHPO can be varied at any time and with out permission from the Police, you can submit an application to the court at your discretion. I also believe Legal Aid can be claimed in this process too.

You only require Police permission if you are discharging a SHPO under the 5 year mark, once past the 5 year mark. You are free to apply for discharge, which Legal Aid also covers.