RULES ON GIVING OF NOTICE paras 4.1 to 4.5
RULES ON GIVING OF NOTICES
4.1 There are a number of statutory requirements that must be met before any disclosure requirement is imposed. Primarily only a person with appropriate permission may impose a disclosure requirement upon a person in respect of specific protected information. Schedule 2 to the Act defines persons able to grant appropriate permission, persons capable of having appropriate permission and describes the circumstances in which appropriate permission can be obtained.[9]
- [9] See section 9 of this code
Who may give notices?
4.2 Public authorities may seek permission to serve a notice in relation to protected information that has already been obtained lawfully or in relation to protected information which is not yet in their lawful possession.
Who may notices be served upon?
4.3 Section 49 notices may potentially be served on a wide variety of individuals, bodies or organisations. Individuals using products or services to protect data under their control, and businesses involved in producing or supplying such products or services, or using such technologies themselves could, conceivably, be in a position to disclose protected information in an intelligible form or to disclose a key required to put such information into an intelligible form.
4.4 Disclosure requirements are most likely to be imposed on individuals who have protected information directly relevant to an investigation or operation and are themselves a subject of, or are connected to, the investigation or operation. As a consequence of the way that information protection or cryptographic and other information technologies work, disclosure requirements may also be imposed on a person who will have a relevant key to protected information by virtue of a personal or business relationship with an individual subject of, or connected to, an investigation or operation.
4.5 It is important in all circumstances where a notice is being contemplated that careful consideration is given to whether a notice should be given, and if so, who should be given the notice. Where the imposition of a disclosure requirement upon a corporate body or firm is being considered, the person intending to seek appropriate permission must determine that body or firm would be able to comply with the proposed disclosure requirement. The imposition of a disclosure requirement upon a corporate body or firm without any prior consultation should be undertaken rarely and only in special circumstances.