Possession of a key paras 3.19 to 3.24
Possession of a key
3.19 Possession of a key by a person ('the person') can include circumstances where the key is in the possession of:
- an employee or other individual under their control, or
- a trusted third party or other service provider and the person has an immediate right of access to it or to have it transmitted or otherwise supplied to him.
3.20 Where the key is, or is contained in, anything which the person, an employee or other individual under their control is entitled, in exercise of any statutory power and without otherwise taking possession of it, to detain, inspect or search that key is in the possession of the person. This means the key is, or is in, something to which the person or anyone under their control has lawful access.
3.21 Where more than one person is in possession of the key to protected information, and at least one of those is in possession of that key in his capacity as an officer or employee of a corporate body or firm and another is also an officer or employee of the body, or a partner of the firm (or is the corporate body or firm itself), a notice imposing a disclosure requirement shall not be given to any officer or employee of the body or employee of the firm who is in possession of the key unless that person is a senior officer of the body or a partner of the firm. In this context senior officer means a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the corporate body (and where the body is managed by its members a director means one of its members).
3.22 In practice this means notices should be served upon a person holding a position such as company secretary, legal director, chief information officer, information disclosure manager or other post designated for the purpose of receiving notices served upon the company or firm.
3.23 Where it appears to a person giving a notice that there is no senior officer of the company, or partner of the firm, or a more senior employee to whom it would be reasonably practicable to give the notice, the notice shall be given to an officer or employee in possession of the key. This means an investigator giving a notice must always seek to give that notice to the most senior officer or employee in possession of the key whether or not any less senior officer or employee of the body, or employee of the firm, would be capable of complying with the disclosure notice.
3.24 The requirements for giving a notice to corporate bodies or firms do not apply where the special circumstances of the case mean that the purpose or purposes for which the notice is to be given would be defeated, in whole or in part, if the notice were required to be given to a senior officer of the company or a partner of the firm or a senior employee to whom it would otherwise be reasonably practicable to give the notice. This can include circumstances where a senior officer of the company or a partner of the firm is the subject of, or connected to, the investigation or operation.