Requesting information
Freedom of Information Act 2000
The Act gives you the right to access recorded information held by the IOPC. We may have already published the information you require. Before submitting a request, please review our Publication Scheme and our Disclosure Logs (below), which contain responses we have previously supplied.
Environmental Information Regulations
Under the Environmental Information Regulations, you can ask for information about the effect we have on the environment.
How to make a request for information held by the IOPC
You can make a freedom of information or environmental information request by emailing us at [email protected].
Although we can accept FOI requests via social media, we would strongly advise you to submit your request using either our email, or the postal addresses shown in our guidance.
We do not routinely monitor our channels out of normal hours, or at weekends and cannot accept responsibility for any requests being missed if made via social media. Any requests submitted via social media must include a return address that we can respond to, ideally either an email or postal address.
Your personal data and the IOPC
Personal data is information relating to an identifiable living individual. Whenever personal data is processed, collected, recorded, stored or disposed of it must be done within the terms of the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act (DPA).
The laws set out your rights regarding your personal information, how organisations should carry out direct marketing and how you can access information from public authorities. Any personal data we do hold, we store and process in line with our Retention and Disposal Schedule.
The IOPC came under the Public Records Act (PRA 1958) in January 2018. View our Appraisal Policy to find out more.
If you wish to make an information rights request, you can email [email protected] with the information specified in the relevant section below.
The right of access
This is also known as a Subject Access Request. This is your right of access to the personal data the IOPC is collecting, holding and processing about you. When making a subject access request, please provide the following information:
- what information you require
- details of cases/complaints/appeals reference numbers
- your full name and address, including any other names which you may have been known by (this will help us identify all your personal information held)
- identification and proof of address
- how you would like to receive the information – for example by email or post
Please note that your right of access entitles you to receive your own personal data, subject to certain exemptions. The DPA does not provide a right of access to the personal information of other people and it is not designed to give access to information about investigations or complaints.
Therefore, it does not provide a right of access to documents, only to information contained in a document that constitutes the personal data of the applicant.
While we will uphold your information access rights as set out by the law, we consider it good customer service to highlight the limitations of asking for information in this way. See our making information available policy to learn about the other possible disclosure routes.
Other information rights and how to exercise them
When making an information rights request please provide the following information:
- details of cases/complaints/appeals reference numbers
- your full name and address, including any other names which you may have been known by (this will help us identify all your personal information held)
- identification and proof of address - details of suitable identification can be found further down this page
Other information rights
This is your right to be informed if the IOPC has collected and is holding any of your personal data and how we will use it. For more information you can read our Privacy Notices and related policies and Information Commissioner's Office's guidance.
This right enables you to have your personal data rectified (or corrected) if it is inaccurate and/or incomplete. Please note the right to rectification does not apply to information that is deemed to be factually true at the time that it was obtained.
When applying to exercise your right to rectification rights, please provide:
- details of the information you believe to be incorrect/incomplete and why you believe it to be so
- the correct/complete information
Also known as the 'right to be forgotten', this allows you to request the deletion of your personal data under certain circumstances prescribed by the law. When applying to exercise your right to erasure, please detail what information you wish to be erased and why.
You have the right to request the restriction of the processing of your data. However, this will only apply in specific circumstances prescribed by the law. When applying to exercise your right to restrict processing, please explain why you want to restrict the processing of your data.
This refers to your right to receive personal data you have provided to us, in a commonly used or specified format and to request we transmit that data to you or another body/data controller.
When applying to exercise your right to data portability, please describe the format you would like us to send your data. Please note that the right of data portability applies only to data that you have supplied to us.
You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data, under certain circumstances prescribed by the law. When applying to exercise your right to object to us processing your data, please provide the reason you object to the processing of your data.
This is your right not to be subjected to decisions that were made by wholly automated means. This is not a practice currently used by the IOPC for decision making or profiling.
Please choose one form of identity from each of the lists below.
Proof of identity:
- passport (the pages with photograph and personal details)
- driving licence
- birth certificate
- adoption certificate
Proof of address:
These documents must have your name and address on it and be dated within the last three months. This address will be used to post your information to you.
- utility bill (not including mobile phone bill)
- bank statement
- credit card statement
- landline phone bill
- council tax bill
- letter from a job centre of Department of Work and Pensions
- letter from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs
- letter from the Ministry of Justice
- letter from the Home Office
- letter from the UK Border Agency
- letter from the Probation Trust
- letter from a Police Force
Copies of the above documents should be scanned in colour and emailed to [email protected]. Colour photocopies can be sent to us by post. (Please note that black and white scans or photocopies will not be accepted)
For more information, you can contact The Information Commissioner, the UK's independent body who uphold information rights. Email: [email protected]k or call: 0303 123 1113.
Disclosure Logs
We publish a list of responses we have supplied to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The information in the logs may be of interest to you or provide you with the information you require. Read our disclosure log criteria to find out how we decide whether a response to a request should be included in this list.
