*UPDATE, 17.11.20: ICO has now “reissued” its FOI response, saying that there was an error in the original, and that section 31 (dealing, broadly, with prejudice to regulatory functions), rather than section 30, of FOIA applies. If this was a plain example of a typo, I would not have drawn attention, but the original response specifically showed that the author thought that criminality would arise in a case of DPO conflict of interest.
I would add two things. First, the exemption is still questionable in my view – I can’t see how disclosing whether organisations have been investigated regarding DPO conflicts (and if so, the numbers involved) could conceivably cause or be likely to cause prejudice to ICO’s regulatory functions. Second, I raised this, as NADPO chair, as a matter of concern with ICO, but, despite the withdrawal of the offending response, I have heard nothing yet. END UPDATE*
As chair of NADPO* (the National Association of Data Protection and Freedom of Information Officers) I’m understandably interested in information and news about data protection officers (DPOs). In particular, what the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) (as the regulatory body most DPOs will interact with) says on this subject will be especially notable.
When I saw that someone had made a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the ICO about whether the latter had investigated or taken enforcement action against any controllers for reasons relating to potential conflict of interest regarding DPO positions, I was intrigued to see what the response would be (I knew no fines had been issued, but I wanted to know how many investigations might have taken place – indeed, I had blogged about the ICO’s own DPO role a few months previously).
However, the ICO’s response to the FOI request is, let’s say, odd. They have refused to disclose (in fact, have refused even to confirm or deny whether they hold) the requested information, citing the FOI exemption that applies to information held for the purposes of investigations into whether someone should be charged with a criminal offence: remarkably, the ICO seems to think that a conflict of interest such as envisaged by Article 38(6) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) would amount to a criminal offence – “it is likely that, if proven, an offence under the DPA [Data Protection Act 2018] may have been committed”. This cannot be the case though – there are no offence provisions under the DPA which come close to criminalising a potential conflict of interest regarding a DPO role, and it would be extraordinary if parliament had decided to make it an offence.
Why the ICO should suggest that there are such provisions is not at all clear, and – if it is not just a stray error – might indicate a rather worrying lack of understanding of both data protection and FOI law.
One final point to note – even the part of the FOI response which didn’t mistakenly assume criminal law provisions were engaged, said, in respect of the part of the request which asked for any information the ICO holds “to assist public authorities protect [sic] against a conflict of interest with the role of the DPO”, that staff at the ICO had been consulted and “there is no information held”. However, on the ICO’s website, in plain view, is guidance on the subject (admittedly not in any detail, but clearly in scope of this request).
The views in this post (and indeed most posts on this blog) are my personal ones, and do not represent the views of any organisation I am involved with.
*I notice that the cookie notice on the NADPO site has somehow slipped into error – I am on the blower to our webdev as we speak.
informationrightsandwrongs 