Interpol Purple Notice
A Purple Notice shares information about criminal methods — modus operandi, objects, devices and concealment methods — rather than seeking a wanted person. It is not a request for arrest, but if a notice concerns activities linked to your business or data about you is recorded in connection with it, it can still affect you. We assess how a Purple Notice may concern you and help you exercise your rights before the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files (CCF).
What is Interpol’s Purple Notice?
INTERPOL uses the Purple Notice “to seek or provide information on modus operandi, objects, devices and concealment methods used by criminals”. Under Article 92 of INTERPOL’s Rules on the Processing of Data (RPD), it may be published to warn member countries about such methods and/or to request information that helps resolve or investigate offences.
Unlike a Red Notice, a Purple Notice does not seek the arrest of a wanted person. Its focus is on how crimes are committed, so that police in other countries can recognise the same method.
Who can issue a Purple Notice?
Notices are issued by INTERPOL’s General Secretariat at the request of a member country’s National Central Bureau (NCB) or an authorised international entity. The General Secretariat may also publish a notice on its own initiative to issue an alert or to request information (RPD Articles 25 and 103).
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What conditions must a Purple Notice meet?
Article 92 of the RPD sets the conditions. Where the offences are no longer under investigation, the modus operandi must be known in detail, be complex or differ from other identified methods, and the notice must be intended to prevent the offences from being repeated. Where the facts are still under investigation, the offences must be serious, the notice must draw attention to a specific method, object, device or concealment method, and the request must contain enough data for matches to be made.
Before publication, the General Secretariat checks that every notice complies with INTERPOL’s Constitution and rules, including the prohibition on activities of a predominantly political, military, religious or racial character (Article 3 of the Constitution).
How a Purple Notice can affect you
A Purple Notice describes methods rather than wanted persons, but the information it contains may concern a particular business, product or activity. If you believe that data concerning you in INTERPOL’s Information System is inaccurate or was processed in breach of INTERPOL’s rules, you can apply to the CCF for access to the data and for its correction or deletion. Requests are free of charge and, since 26 March 2026, are submitted through the CCF’s online portal.
Who is permitted to view or access a Purple Notice?
Notices are published for the attention of all National Central Bureaus, which can consult them directly in INTERPOL’s police databases. National authorities can consult them according to the access granted by their NCB, and international entities only where their agreement with INTERPOL expressly provides for it (RPD Article 79). Most notices are for police use only; an extract may be published on INTERPOL’s website only if the requesting country wishes to alert the public or seek its help.
Legal Advice on Purple Notices
Our lawyer Dmytro Konovalenko and our team help you assess whether a Purple Notice or related data concerns you, prepare requests to the CCF for access, correction or deletion, and advise on any national proceedings connected with the investigation. Contact us for a confidential assessment.