Cabinet Office

The complainant has requested Sir Nigel Sheinwald’s report on data sharing between the British government and US corporations. It initially refused the request citing section 21. It directed the complainant to a summary of the report available online. At internal review, it revised its position. It said that any information not already released in the summary was exempt under section 23 (security bodies’ information) and section 24 (safeguarding national security). During the Commissioner’s investigation, it introduced reliance on section 27 (international relations) and section 35 (formulation/development government policy) in the alternative to section 24). The Commissioner’s decision is that the Cabinet Office is entitled to rely on sections 23 and 24 as its basis for withholding the requested information. No steps are required.