Information Commissioner
This page contains information about the Information Commissioner, including:
What it does
Advantages and disadvantages
Which complaints are eligible?
Cost
Timescale
Procedure and outcomes
What it does
The Information Commissioner has two main areas of responsibility: Freedom of Information and Data Protection.
Freedom of Information
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 came into effect in January 2005. It requires public bodies to make information available to the public on request. The Information Commissioner publishes good practice guidelines on how to comply with FOI requests. If a request is refused without justification, then the Information Commissioner can investigate complaints. The Information Commissioner covers the whole of the UK, and there is a separate Scottish Information Commissioner covering public bodies within Scotland such as the Scottish Executive.
Data Protection
The Data Protection Act 1998 sets standards for storing and using personal data. If members of the public believe that personal information held about them is wrong, or has been misused, they can complain to the Information Commissioner.
The Commissioner can also help with complaints about electronic marketing, and the right to request environmental information.
Electronic marketing
The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (2003) set out rules about the sending of unsolicited marketing messages by electronic means such as telephone, fax, email and text messages. The Information Commissioner provides guidance on what your rights are. For example, if you are registered with the Telephone Preference Service, you should not receive any telephone marketing calls unless you have specifically requested them. If the rules have been broken, you should complain to the organisation involved. You can also make a complaint to the Information Commissioner, who has powers to enforce the regulations, but not to order compensation.
Environmental Information Regulations
The Environmental Information Regulations (2004) provide members of the public with the right to access environmental information held by public authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Information Commissioner publishes guidance for members of the public and for organisations, and will investigate failure to comply with the rules.
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Advantages
- it is independent of the organisations that are the subjects of the complaints it handles
- it is free
- it can influence good practice and procedures within organisations
Disadvantages
- it can take a long time to get a decision
- it is not possible to get compensation through this scheme
- the Information Commissioner cannot enforce decisions about data protection
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Which complaints are eligible?
Data Protection
The Data Protection Act states that anyone who processes personal information must comply with eight principles, which make sure that personal information is:
- Fairly and lawfully processed
- Processed for limited purposes
- Adequate, relevant and not excessive
- Accurate and up to date
- Not kept for longer than is necessary
- Processed in line with your rights
- Secure
- Not transferred to other countries without adequate protection
The Information Commissioner is responsible for enforcing the Data Protection Act 1998 and for considering complaints from individuals about the use of personal data. The Act gives you:
- the right to find out what information is held about you on computers and in some paper records
- the right to take steps to prevent personal data being processed if it will result in substantial damage or distress
- the right to require organisations not to use personal data to market products, services or ideas
- the right to prevent decisions being made that are based solely on automatic processing
- the right to have inaccurate information amended or destroyed
- the right to claim compensation from the data controller (but not from the Information Commissioner)
The Commissioner can assess whether there has been a breach of the Act but cannot force an organisation to comply with the Act. For this, individual complainants must take the organisation to court. You should always complain direct to the organisation first, to give them a chance to put things right.
Freedom of Information
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives individuals a right to ask for any information that public bodies hold. It also requires public authorities to have publication schemes that make it clear what information is publicly available.
If you have requested information from a public body, and are unhappy with their response, you can complain to the Information Commissioner on any of the following grounds:
- Failure to provide the information you requested
- Failure to respond to your request within 20 working days (or failure to explain why longer than 20 working days is needed)
- Failure to give you proper advice and help
- Failure to give information in the form in which you requested it
- Failure to properly explain any reasons for refusing the request
- Failure to correctly apply an exemption under the Act
When complaining about Data Protection or Freedom of Information, you should first take your complaint to the body or organisation concerned, and give them a chance to put things right. If you are not satisfied with their response, or if they fail to respond in a reasonable time, then you can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner.
Electronic marketing
You have the right to object to electronic marketing messages and can register with a statutory preference service if you don’t wish to receive sales calls or junk faxes. The Information Commissioner publishes guidance notes for organisations and for members of the public. Have a look at the Information Commissioner website for a detailed and up-to-date list of what your rights are, and when you can complain.
Environmental Information Regulations
You have the right to request environmental information held by public authorities under the Environmental Information Regulations. You can make requests by letter, email, telephone or in person. The regulations are designed to create a culture of openness.
The public authority must respond within 20 working days by providing the information or issuing a refusal notice. The time limit can only be extended (to 40 working days) if the information requested is complex and voluminous.
Public authorities must provide advice and assistance to applicants when necessary. A reasonable charge may be made for environmental information. If the public authority refuses access to information, it must explain which exception applies and why releasing the information is not in the public interest.
You can complain about a public authority if:
- they have failed to provide the information you asked for
- they have failed to tell you whether or not they hold information
- they have failed to respond to your request within time limits (normally 20 working days)
- they have failed to give you proper advice and help
- they have failed to give information in the form in which you requested it
- they have failed to properly explain the reasons for refusing the request
- they have failed to correctly apply an exemption under the Regulations – in other words, they have refused to disclose information for the wrong reason
- they have overcharged you for providing information
First, you should complain directly to the public authority itself, asking it to review what has happened. The authority should have its own complaints procedure. If the authority has no complaints procedure or if you don’t believe it has dealt with your complaint properly, you can contact the Information Commissioner. You should do this as soon as possible, or within two months following the final response of the public authority.
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Cost
The scheme is free to complainants.
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Timescale
Freedom of Information cases
During 2009-10:
- 49% of casework was completed within 30 days
- 66% was completed within 90 days
- 76% was completed within a year
Data Protection cases
During 2009-10:
- 44% of casework was completed within 30 days
- 74% was completed within 90 days
- 88% was completed within 180 days
The number of complaints is increasing, with 3,734 Freedom of Information complaints received in 2009-10 (up 20% from previous year) and 33,234 Data Protection complaints received (up 30% from previous year).
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Procedure and outcomes
A complaints form for each of the issues covered by the Information Commissioner can be downloaded from the Information Commissioner’s website. This should be completed, and sent with an explanation of the problem and copies of any relevant correspondence, to the Information Commissioner. You should keep the originals safely, as they may be needed later. Don’t forget that you should always make the complaint to the body or organisation you are complaining about first of all. You can then go to the Commissioner if you are not happy with their response.
You can call the Information Commissioner’s helpline on 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 545 745 for advice to help you to solve the problem, or for advice on how to make a complaint to the Commissioner if that is appropriate.
Once you have made your complaint to the Information Commissioner’s office, a caseworker will then consider whether they can take on the case, and let you know as soon as possible. Initially, the Commissioner’s office contacts the organisation concerned to see if the matter can be resolved quickly. If the issue needs a full investigation, this can be quite time-consuming. Once an investigation has been completed, a decision notice is served.
Freedom of Information cases
During 2009-10:
- 20% of cases were ineligible (5% of these because there had been no internal review)
- 52% of cases were informally resolved with help from the Information Commissioner’s office
- A decision notice was served in 17% of cases
Of the decision notices served:
- The complaint was upheld in 23% of cases
- The complaint was not upheld in 46% of cases
- The complaint was partly upheld in 31% of cases
If you are not happy with the Information Commissioner’s decision notice, you can appeal to the Information Tribunal. In 2009-10 appeals were made in around 161 decisions, with roughly two-thirds by complainants and one-third by public authorities. Of these, 22% were allowed or partly allowed, 36% were dismissed, and 38% withdrawn.
Data Protection cases
During 2009-10:
- 18% of cases were ineligible
- In 12% of cases a breach was unlikely
- In 19% of cases a breach was likely
- In 37% of cases advice and guidance was issued to the company breaking the rules
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January 2011
