Have you heard of Freedom of Information? Or FOI? It is a law which allows people to ask for information about public bodies.
Have you heard of Freedom of Information? Or FOI? It is a law which allows people to ask for information about public bodies.
You may have been asked to provide information to the Information Governance Team to help them respond to a FOI request. If this is new to you then here is a bitesize overview of FOI and how we deal with requests and protect the University and your data.
Firstly – anyone can make such a request, but they do have to provide their real name. We are obliged to respond to each request within 20 working days.
As much as anything can be asked of the University, there are provisions in the legislation to protect sensitive data and reduce the burden on public bodies.
For example, if the information is not held by the University, there is no obligation for us to create it. Furthermore, it would cost too much (over £600) to collate the information, we are not required to provide it.
When it comes to sensitive information, which would be harmful if released there are exemptions that can be relied upon to withhold such information. The most commonly used exemptions are to protect personal data, commercial information, confidential information and information that would impact decision-making within the University.
In order to apply for these exemptions, it does need to be argued why they apply; demonstrate what harm would be caused if released and what the public interest is in withholding the information. The Information Governance Team will need assistance from teams across the University to fully understand these reasons and ensure that the strongest argument possible is put forward.
If the applicant is unhappy with our response, they do have appeal rights, and this can ultimately result in a public decision from the Scottish Information Commissioner. This can result in the University being forced to disclose the withheld information.
If you have any questions about FOI, please get in touch with the Information Governance team at foi@abdn.ac.uk. You may also wish to take a look at our FOI web pages.