3 January 2007, Local government (District council)
The complainant requested all information held by the public authority in relation to surveillance it carried out on him. In particular, the complainant asked for copies of letters from a third party concerning the matter. The public authority cited several exemptions including section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The Commissioner is satisfied that this exemption applies, however as the information requested is the complainant’s personal data the Commissioner believes that this request should have been treated as a subject access request under the Data Protection Act 1998. As such, the information should not be disclosed under the Act. The Commissioner will now assess whether the complainant is entitled to the information under the DPA.
FOI 40: Not upheld