Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance has (1) the Cabinet Office and (2) the Information Commissioner provided to public authorities regarding sharing the personal identity of FOI request applicants when consulting a third party in relation to the FOI applicant’s request.

All public authorities that process personal data for the purposes of responding to FOI requests must comply with the requirements of data protection legislation.

The Freedom of Information Code of Practice, issued under section 45 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, provides guidance to public authorities on consultation with third parties. The Code is published on GOV. UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/freedom-of-information-code-of-practice.

Guidance issued by the Information Commissioner can be found at www.ico.org.uk