Mandatory protection of research information of third party, and protection of research information of private body
(1) The head of a private 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 head of a private 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 the private body, the disclosure of which would be likely to expose— (a) the private body; (b) a person that is or will be carrying out the research on behalf of the private body; or (c) the subject matter of the research, to serious disadvantage.
What this means in practice
- Mandatory refusal protects a third party's research where disclosure would seriously disadvantage the third party, the researcher, or the research subject.
- You may refuse on the same basis to protect your own research.
PopiGuard helps research-active organisations apply s.69 — protecting third-party and in-house research on the record.