freedom of information.co.uk

October 15th 2004

A former Deputy Information Commissioner says the new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) could prove as problematic as the Data Protection Act.  In an interview with freedomofinformation.co.uk, John Woulds, who retired as Deputy Commissioner in 2001, said understanding the Act’s complexities requires ‘an ice pack on your head.'  

From January 2005 the FOIA will allow the public access to information held by over 100,000 public authorities, ranging for government departments, to local services such as GP surgeries and primary schools.  Some documents will remain exempt from disclosure, including information concerning the formulation of government policy and personal data covered by the Data Protection Act (DPA.)   Officials will be expected to interpret these exemptions, 23 in all, some of which are highly complex.  Mr Woulds predicted this would cause problems, adding, ‘In some parts of the public sector it is going to involve a real cultural shift: moving from an environment in which the culture is to protect information unless you really have to, to one in which the law obliges you to release information unless there is a good reason not to.’

Public authorities are obliged to answer information requests within twenty days.  Some observers fear this deadline, combined with a reluctance to seek expensive legal advice may lead to hasty decisions and misinterpretations of the Act.  Similar problems have arisen under the DPA, most notoriously in the Soham murder case, when it was revealed that Humberside Police had destroyed vital evidence about killer Ian Huntley in the mistaken belief that they were meeting a DPA requirement.

Information Commissioner Richard Thomas, who is responsible for enforcing both Acts, has launched an initiative to help the public and officials understand the DPA. Mr Woulds praised these efforts, saying, ‘I think it will help, because a lot of people working in data protection have perhaps lost sight of the objective: it becomes more important to tick all the boxes and apply the rules prescriptively than to consider “what’s it all about?”’

Mr Woulds believes requests for internal email could also cause public authorities problems.  He said people are often not disciplined about what they write and how they store email, despite the fact it’s sometimes used to convey important information and decisions.  He added, ‘[If] the only record of an important decision is lurking somewhere in the email system then there’s something wrong.  That information ought to be better managed.’

Read full interview with John Woulds