The department is subject to both sets of legislation and you can use any of the freedom of information acts or the data protection acts to access information that we hold.
FOI covers information held by public authorities, but not requests for personal information about the person making the request. FOI is about providing access to public information.
Data protection legislation protects personal data. It gives you the legal right to access information held about you (by making a Subject Access Request) and, in some cases, to prevent your personal information being seen, used or processed by other people.
We are committed to making sure your personal data is protected. FOI does not provide access to information which cannot be accessed under the Data Protection Law.
If you ask for personal information about someone else, then your request will be handled under the FOI law, but the principles of the Data Protection Law will be applied to decide whether we can release that information to you.
If releasing the information means we would be breaking the Data Protection Law, we must refuse your request.
You cannot obtain personal information about yourself by making an FOI request.
You have rights under different legislation to seek different types of information from us. As you can see, the type of information you are looking for will determine which type of request you should make.
CSD Data Protection Lead: Cory Allenger
CSD Freedom of Information Manager: Clara Smith
CSD Freedom of Information Deputy Information Manager: Tia Parrott