Mandatory protection of research information of third party, and protection of research information of public body
(1) The information officer of a public body must refuse a request for access to a record of the body if the record contains information about research being or to be carried out by or on behalf of a third party, the disclosure of which would be likely to expose— (a) the third party; (b) a person that is or will be carrying out the research on behalf of the third party; or (c) the subject matter of the research, to serious disadvantage.
(2) The information officer of a public body may refuse a request for access to a record of the body if the record contains information about research being or to be carried out by or on behalf of a public body, the disclosure of which would be likely to expose— (a) the public body; (b) a person that is or will be carrying out the research on behalf of the public body; or (c) the subject matter of the research, to serious disadvantage.
What this means in practice
- Third-party research is a mandatory refusal where disclosure would seriously disadvantage the party, researcher or subject; the body's own research is discretionary — the public-body twin of s.69.
PopiGuard helps research-active public bodies apply s.43 to third-party and in-house research.