RTCD = right not to confirm or deny
I've looked up "right not to confirm or deny" (shouldn't this be RNTCOD?) and this doesn't come up as a single phrase under information legislation or indeed anywhere I can see.
What I have found is "Duty to Confirm or Deny" and guidance from the Information Commissioner's Office here: http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/freedom_of_information/detailed_specialist_guides/awareness_guidance_21_-_the_duty_to_confirm_or_deny.pdf.
Isn't there a conceptual difference between Duty and Right?
It's very interesting guidance - forgive me if I am wrong - but it suggests very much the opposite of what I have been reading on this thread, except of course (amongst a number of reasons) if the request is considered to be 'vexatious'. There may also be absolute exclusions.
Section 21. This creates an exemption for information accessible to the applicant by other means. Here, it is reasonable to expect that the public authority will inform an applicant that it holds the information, in order to give the applicant an opportunity to access it by another route. This is compatible with the duty to provide advice and assistance under section 16.
The organisation should help the applicant it seems.
If the information being held is personal to the applicant and the organisation not under a duty to produce it, then doesn't the alternative route apply - the Data Protection Act for that withheld information?
Brian
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