The member of staff could have submitted their request anonymously but
has chosen not to. I therefore think that it is perfectly reasonable
for you to identify the requester to whoever you need to contact in
order to answer the request irrespective of any "awkwardness" it may
cause. I'm sure managers have worse to deal with...?
-----Original Message-----
From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Graeme Hawley
Sent: 30 May 2006 10:56
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [data-protection] Anonymity when making FOI requests of your
own organisation
Hi,
What is the score when an employee makes an FOI request of their own
organisation? I am the FOI officer at our organisation, and have
received a request for info from a member of staff. They have supplied
their name and email address. I am pretty sure that in gathering the
information for this, senior management will ask who this has come from.
There isn't usually a problem when it is external, and I can say
something like "a jounalist from the Telegraph", but it will be clear
from the nature of the question that this has come from inside. Despite
being the FOI officer, a request made for information isn't made
personally to me, but rather to the organisation. I am just the guy
that handles them. However, in order to satisfy the request, there is
no need for anyone else to know the identity of the applicant. On the
other hand, the organisation itself has received this request, so who am
I to say who else in the organisation should or shouldn't know? I feel
that if the management knew the identity of the applicant it may cause
awkwardness for them (damage and distress).
Does anyone have any suggestions. In order to withhold the member of
staff's name I think I need some sort of refernece from the DPA. FOISA
doesn't say anything about this.
Cheers
Graeme
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