A proposal for a new risk-based licensing approach to disclosing anonymised data under the (UK) Freedom of Information Act 2000

Abstract

ABSTRACT Previous contributions to the literature have highlighted the disconnection between the ‘release and forget’ disclosure model of the (UK) Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the practical realities of anonymisation. This article builds on this literature, and proposes an alternative approach to disclosing anonymised data under the FOIA that operates on a context-dependant and risk-aware basis, and is designed to reconcile the law with the practical realities of anonymisation whilst striking a balance between the need to make public sector data more ‘open’ and protecting the privacy and data protection interests of individuals whose personal data might be contained in public sector datasets.