Council/Goverment uses the Data Protection 2018 Act to avoid answering any questions at all about Housing

Council/Goverment uses the Data Protection 2018 Act to avoid answering any questions at all about Housing

Remember Houses contain people so all questions about housing can be refused on the basis they are an invasion of privacy.  Even if you ask a generic question about a set of houses.

Dear Mr Miller

I write further to my letter of 7 September 2018 regarding this matter.

I have carefully considered your request for information contained in the letter you received from the London borough of Lambeth (the Council) dated 24 August 2018 (attached).

I am satisfied that the Council was entitled to deny your request on the basis of the exemption at section 40(5) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) largely for the reasons explained to you by the Council in that letter of 24 August and upheld by the Council following an internal review (attached).

Technically, given that the request relates to possible construction or repair work on a property, it is likely that it should have been handled under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR) and not the FOIA.

However, this would not have made any material difference to the outcome because there is an equivalent exception (to section 40(5) of the FOIA) in regulation 13(5) of the EIR.

The information requested relates to an identifiable living individual(s). Confirming or denying whether the requested information is held inevitably reveals something about  (properties enquired about) which is clearly linked to the occupants of either property.

Such information defined as personal data in the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) is exempt under the FOIA or the EIR. Information released under the FOIA or the EIR is effectively released to the world at large regardless of whether only one individual has requested the information.

In the circumstances of this case, I cannot see that there is a lawful basis for confirming or denying to the whole world whether the information requested in relation to the two properties in question is held. Clearly, there may be legitimate reasons for releasing this information to you or to others. However, that is not the same as releasing it to everyone else.

The Commissioner's position in relation to such requests for information is now established. You can find published decisions in relation to section 40(5) and regulation 13(5) on our website here: https://icosearch.ico.org.uk/s/search.html?collection=ico-meta&profile=decisions&query

You say that you re-submitted your requests in a generic form not relating to the properties and that these were also denied by the Council.

However, this complaint is about the response from the Council to your request which according to the Council was received in June 2018. If you wish to complain about the fresh request you submitted, you may do so through the following page on our website: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

What happens next?

You may request a decision notice if you would like to appeal my decision to the First-Tier Information Rights Tribunal. Please note that it may take up to 2-3 months before I can issue the decision notice which will not differ materially from the explanation above.

Please contact me by Friday 14 December 2018 if you have any questions and/or would like to appeal my decision.

I shall assume you have withdrawn your complaint and close the case if I have not heard from you by 14 December.

Yours Sincerely

Terna Waya
Senior Case Officer
03304146366