Summary: The complainant requested that the Information Commissioner-™s Office (-˜the ICO-™) provide him with the contents of the Register of Data Controllers in any usable format. The ICO refused the request under section 21(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the -˜Act-™) as the information was available in the online Data Protection Public Register, as maintained by ICO. The complainant has argued that the ICO has an obligation to provide the requested information in an electronic format which can be used for research. He quoted another case where the Commissioner ordered the disclosure of electronic data under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (the -˜EIR-™). The Commissioner does not consider that this other case is relevant to this one and is satisfied that section 21(1) was correctly applied.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 21 - Complaint Not upheld