Excerpt from Out-law.com published 18th April 2012.
The names of three junior members of staff who had handled complaints made to the financial services regulator should have been disclosed as part of a freedom of information request as disclosure “did not adversely affect their privacy”, a tribunal has ruled.
In its decision (10-page / 49KB PDF) the Information Rights Tribunal said that disclosing employee names alone did not necessarily “affect the individuals’ privacy, whether in their personal or family life, business or professional capacity”.
The appeal concerned a request for information made under the Freedom of Information(FOI) Act by a Mr Edem. Edem had asked financial services regulator the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for a copy of information it held about him and about complaints he had made to the effect that the FSA had failed to regulate credit card company Egg Plc properly.
The regulator withheld the names of the junior staff who dealt with Edem’s complaints on the grounds that they were “personal data” and so exempt from disclosure. In his original decision notice, the Information Commissioner said that the FSA had been right to do so.