Information Commissioner's Office

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

6 August 2008, Central government

The complainant wrote to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to request the names and job titles of the UK and Russian diplomats who were expelled as a result of the diplomatic dispute that followed the murder of Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006. The public authority refused to disclose the information relying on the exemption in section 40 of the Act (personal information). The Commissioner has investigated the complaint and has found that the requested information constitutes personal data and its disclosure would breach the first data protection principle which requires that personal data be processed fairly and lawfully. The Commissioner has decided that the public authority dealt with the complainant’s request in accordance with the Act and requires no steps to be taken.

FOI 40: Not upheld