The Freedom of
Information (FOI) Act was passed on
30 November 2000. It provides a
general right of access to all types
of recorded information held by
public authorities, with full access
granted in January 2005. The Act
sets out exemptions to that right
and places certain obligations on
public authorities.
FOI replaced the Open Government
Code of Practice, which has been in
operation since 1994.
Data Protection and FOI
The Data Protection Act 1998 came
into force on 1 March 2000. It
provides living individuals with a
right of access to personal
information held about them. The
right applies to all information
held in computerised form and also
to non-computerised information held
in filing systems structured so that
specific information about
particular individuals can retrieved
readily.
Individuals already have the right
to access information about
themselves (personal data), which is
held on computer and in some paper
files under the Data Protection Act
1998.
The right also applies to those
archives that meet these criteria.
However, the right is subject to
exemptions, which will affect
whether information is provided.
Requests will be dealt with on a
case by case basis.
The Freedom of Information Act and
the Data Protection Act are the
responsibility of the Lord
Chancellor’s Department. An example
of some of it aims are:
- Seeking to
encourage an increase in
openness in the public sector
- To improve
people’s knowledge and
understanding of their rights
and responsibilities
- Developing a
data protection policy which
properly balances personal
information privacy with the
need for public and private
organisations to process
personal information
- Monitoring
the Code of Practice on Access
to Government Information
The Data
Protection Act does not give third
parties rights of access to personal
information for research purposes.
The FOI Act does not give
individuals access to their personal
information, though if a request is
made, the Data Protection Act gives
the individual this right. If the
individual chooses to make this
information public it could be used
alongside non-personal information
gained by the public under the terms
of the FOI Act.
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